Microsoft — English Dictionary

Proper noun

1. Microsoft Corporation, a technology company.

   Synonyms

   MSMSFT

Noun

1. A company whose products are widespread.

   Usage

   • Figurative

   Examples

   After its phenomenal stock offering two weeks ago, Netscape Communications Corp. is well on its way to becoming the Microsoft of the Internet.

   More examples (3)

   Similarly, said Fraley, farmers were going to demand Bt cotton or Roundup-resistant soybean plants no matter where they went shopping for seeds. Monsanto would be the Microsoft of agriculture.

   The company wanted to turn Celera into the Microsoft of the gene-hunting world, selling its version of the human genome to private or public gene hunters through a proprietary computer program.

   Shepherding is more or less gone (though there’s an interesting move back toward discipleship in today’s church especially among those influenced by Rick Warren’s blockbuster book The Purpose-Driven Life), but Integrity remains as sort of the Microsoft of worship music.

Verb

1. To Microsoftify.

   Usage

   • Slang
   • Transitive

2. To render more like Microsoft with regards to business practices and tactics.

   Usage

   • Slang
   • Transitive

   Examples

   You could call it the Microsofting of the wine industry. Of course, wine is unlikely to be dominated by one producer or one distributor.