SMS

abbreviation or noun

: a technology for sending short text messages between mobile phones
Although driven by teens and young adults who seemingly aren't satisfied with online instant messaging, SMS can be very useful for sending urgent messages to family members or co-workers.Consumer Reports
often used before another noun
Creative, colorful, and sometimes perplexing, emoji add energy to SMS messages.Christina Bonnington
also : a message sent using this technology : text message
… is helping to test a device that implants sensors in cows to let farmers know when they are in heat. When that is the case, the device sends an SMS to the farmer's phone. John Tagliabue

Examples of SMS in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
His company, Emails and SMS LLC, focuses on making email marketing a powerful tool for success. Grace Butler, USA TODAY, 12 Dec. 2024 However, modern text messages often do not use SMS and are transmitted using other systems, such as Apple's iMessage and Google Messages. Daniel R. Depetris, Newsweek, 5 Dec. 2024 However, none of this works when an Android user texts an iPhone (or vice versa) because Apple didn't support RCS and used the older SMS standard. Julian Chokkattu, WIRED, 28 Oct. 2024 This has been seen distributed by email and also using SMS text messages. Davey Winder, Forbes, 27 Nov. 2024 See all Example Sentences for SMS 

Word History

Etymology

Short Message Service

First Known Use

1991, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of SMS was in 1991

Dictionary Entries Near SMS

Cite this Entry

“SMS.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/SMS. Accessed 22 Dec. 2024.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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