# terminal

/ˈtɝmənəɫ/ (US) · /tˈɜːmɪnəl/ (UK)

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/terminal
Updated: 2026-07-22

## Senses

### 1. transport hub

noun · CEFR B1

a large building at an airport, train station, or port where passengers start or end their journey.

For teachers: a major transport facility at the end of a line or where passengers transfer between ground and air/sea travel.

- We need to go to Terminal 5 to catch our flight to London.
- The new airport terminal was designed to handle over twenty million passengers annually, featuring streamlined security and automated baggage systems.

### 2. computing interface

noun · CEFR B2

a screen or program used to give commands to a computer system.

For teachers: a device or software application used for entering data into and displaying data from a computer or network.

- The programmer opened the terminal to type in a few lines of code.
- By accessing the server via a remote terminal, the administrator was able to patch the security vulnerability without being physically present in the data centre.

### 3. electrical connection

noun · CEFR C1 · Technical

a point where a wire connects to a battery or a piece of equipment.

For teachers: a point of connection for closing an electric circuit, such as the contact points on a battery.

- Make sure the red wire is attached firmly to the positive terminal of the battery.
- Corrosion on the battery terminals prevented the engine from drawing enough current to start during the cold winter morning.

### 4. fatal illness

adjective · CEFR B2

describing an illness that cannot be cured and will lead to death.

For teachers: relating to an incurable disease that is expected to result in the death of the patient.

- The doctor had the difficult task of telling the family that the cancer was terminal.
- The hospice provides specialised palliative care for patients with terminal diagnoses, focusing on comfort and quality of life in their final months.

### 5. at the very end

adjective · CEFR C1 · Formal

happening or appearing at the very end of something.

For teachers: forming or situated at the end or extremity of something; final.

- The terminal chapter of the book explains what happened to the characters years later.
- The terminal phase of the project involved a rigorous audit to ensure all initial requirements had been met before the final handover.

## Examples

- We need to meet at the airport terminal two hours before our flight.
- The technician logged into the main server using a remote terminal to troubleshoot the network error.
- While the new international terminal boasts state-of-the-art automated check-in kiosks, many passengers still prefer the reassurance of speaking with a human agent at the service desk.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.