Terms of Use

23 Oct 2024

Merriam-Webster, Incorporated (“Merriam-Webster”)
Terms of Use for Website, Mobile Application and Online Services

Last Updated and Effective as of: October 23, 2024

Unless other terms and conditions or agreements with Merriam-Webster expressly govern, these Terms of Use govern your use of our websites, mobile applications or online services that link to these Terms of Use (collectively, the "Services"). Please note, these Terms of Use are subject to and incorporate the terms of all other legal notices that appear on the Services, including our Privacy Policy, which describes how we process the data we collect from our Services.

Unless otherwise provided in a written agreement with Merriam, your use of the Services constitutes your agreement to these Terms of Use. If you do not agree with these Terms of Use, please do not use the Services. Merriam reserves the right to change, modify, add or remove portions of these Terms of Use at any time. If we make any material changes to these Terms of Use that impact your rights, we will notify you by email (sent to the email address in your account) and by a notice on the Services prior to the effective date of such changes with an opportunity for you to review the same, unless otherwise required by applicable law. All non-material amended terms automatically will take effect when they are posted on the Services. Please check this page periodically for any modifications. Your continued use of any of the Services following the posting of any non-material changes to these Terms of Use shall mean that you have accepted those changes. All other amended terms will take effect 30 days after you are notified of the same.

THESE TERMS OF USE CONTAIN DISCLAIMERS OF WARRANTIES, LIMITATION OF LIABILITY, GOVERNING LAW & VENUE AND CLASS ACTION WAIVER PROVISIONS. THESE PROVISIONS AFFECT YOUR RIGHTS ABOUT HOW TO RESOLVE ANY DISPUTE WITH MERRIAM-WEBSTER. PLEASE READ THEM.

Merriam-Webster offers three types of access to its Services: (1) advertising-supported; (2) individual and family consumer subscriptions; and (3) institutional subscriptions. Section 1 of these Terms of Use applies to all individuals who use our Services, both advertising-supported and subscription-based. Section 2 applies only to individuals with consumer subscriptions. Section 3 applies only to individuals who are Authorized Users under institutional subscriptions. Section 4-Legal Notices-applies to everyone.

Section 1. Terms of Use for Everyone

COPPA Compliance: In accordance with the Federal Children's Online Privacy Protection Act of 1998 (COPPA), we will never knowingly solicit, nor will we accept, personally identifiable information from users known to be under thirteen (13) years of age without the consent of their educational institution or the child's parent or guardian. If an educational institution with students that are under thirteen (13) years of age uses our Services, the educational institution also may provide us with personally identifiable information about its students. We use student information to provide the Services to the educational institution and its students, consistent with our Merriam-Webster Unabridged Privacy Notice.

Links to Third-Party Websites; Affiliate Marketing Links: The Services may contain links to third-party websites that are not owned or controlled by us. We have no control over, and assume no responsibility for, the content, privacy policies, or practices of any third-party websites. Our Services also may contain affiliate marketing links, which means we may earn a commission when you click on or make purchases from a third-party merchant whose products or services we write about. Our editorial content is not influenced by advertiser or affiliate- marketing relationships. When you purchase products or services from third-party merchants through affiliate marketing links on our Services, you are purchasing directly from the third- party product or service provider, not from Merriam-Webster. We are not responsible for examining or evaluating, and we do not warrant, the offerings of any third-party merchant (including the content of their websites, their website availability, or their product or service pricing). In addition, Merriam-Webster does not assume any responsibility or liability for the actions, products, services, or content of any third-party merchant. These third parties may have their own terms and privacy policies, which you should review carefully.

User Login: To use our mobile-application Services or access certain features of our Merriam-Webster Online (www.Merriam-Webster.com) Service, including the 'Save Word' and 'Game' features, you will have to register with us by providing your email address and creating a username and password. When registering your account, please create a username that you like and will find easy to remember. We do not allow usernames that include profane or obscene language, third-party trademarks, email or web addresses, or the words "Merriam-Webster," and your username must comply with our Username Policy.

Once registered with us, please go to 'Settings' if you prefer to turn off the 'recent lookup' feature associated with your account. If you want to delete the email and all other information associated with your account, please email us at customerservice@merriam-webster.com.

Our information collection and use policies with respect to the privacy of personal information provided by you when registering with us are set forth in our Privacy Notice. You acknowledge and agree that between you and Merriam-Webster, you are solely responsible for the accuracy and content of your personal information, and agree to keep it up to date.

Ownership: The content on the Services is the property of Merriam-Webster and its affiliated companies or licensors, and is protected by international copyright, patent, and trademark laws.

Advertising: Advertisements, promotions, and marketing messages may appear on the Services from time to time, unless you or your institution has a subscription-based Service.

Use of Content: You may display, reproduce, print or download content, including images, from the Services only for your personal, non-commercial use. If you are a teacher, scholar or student, you may copy reasonable portions of the content, including images, for lesson plans, interactive whiteboards, reports, dissertations, presentations, school newspapers and for similar nonprofit educational purposes to the extent permitted by applicable law. In each case, however, you may not remove or alter any copyright, trademark, service mark or other proprietary notices or legends. You may not publish, distribute, retransmit, sell or provide access to the content on the Services, except as permitted under applicable law or as described in these Terms of Use. Merriam-Webster works to ensure that all the content on its Services complies with applicable U.S. copyright laws. However, in the case of works on the Services authored by parties other than Merriam-Webster, including User-Generated Content as contemplated by the UGC paragraph below, you may wish to check on their copyright status before downloading them if you are in another country. You may not use data mining, robots, screen scraping, or similar data gathering and extraction tools on the Services, such as artificial intelligence ("AI") for purposes of developing or training AI or conducting computer analysis, except with our express written consent. You may not decompile, reverse engineer or disassemble any software or other products or processes accessible through the Services, insert any code or product or manipulate the content of the Services in any way that affects the user's experience.

If you want to reproduce or use content for any purpose or in any manner other than as described above, including for purposes of developing or training AI or to conduct computer analysis, you will need Merriam-Webster's permission. Requests should be submitted using our Contact Form.

User-Generated Content: This section applies to the extent we have enabled posting of user-submitted comments, audio, video, text or other materials in the Services or otherwise allow you to send information or materials through the Services (collectively, UGC).

You are responsible for your own UGC and are responsible for the consequences of sending it through the Services. You must not do the following things: send or post UGC that is copyrighted, unless you are the copyright owner or have the permission of the copyright owner to post it; send or post UGC that reveals trade secrets, unless you own them or have the permission of the owner; send or post UGC that infringes on any other intellectual property rights of others or on the privacy or publicity rights of others or is otherwise unlawful; send or post UGC that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any other person or entity; send or post a sexually-explicit image; send or post advertisements or solicitations of business; send or post chain letters or the like; or impersonate another person.

By sending or posting UGC, you warrant and represent that you own or otherwise control all of the rights to the content, and use of your UGC by Merriam-Webster will not infringe or violate the rights of any third-party. By sending UGC, you automatically grant to Merriam-Webster a royalty-free, perpetual, irrevocable, non-exclusive license to use, reproduce, modify, publish, edit, translate, distribute, perform, and display it alone or as part of other works in any form, media, or technology, whether now known or hereafter developed, and to sublicense such rights through multiple tiers of sublicensees. You retain the right to reuse your UGC as submitted to Merriam-Webster.

You may not use the Services or other communication mechanisms to sell, to trade, or for other commercial purposes. You may not send UGC through the Services that violates the rights of any third-party or contains a virus or other harmful component. Nor may you use language or engage in any activity that is threatening, abusive, vulgar, discourteous, disruptive, or unlawful.

Please be aware that once you post UGC, there is the potential for the general public to read your words, even years from now. Merriam-Webster suggests that you exercise caution when posting UGC on the Services and that you not disclose personal identifiable information like your location, medical record number, financial information, etc.

The opinions and/or views expressed in UGC represent the thoughts of individuals, and not those necessarily of Merriam-Webster or any of its affiliated companies or any of their respective directors, officers, attorneys, employees, or members of their board of directors. Accordingly, notwithstanding anything else in these Terms of Use, Merriam-Webster should not be seen as endorsing any UGC in any way. Merriam-Webster, its affiliated companies, any of their respective directors, officers, attorneys, employees, and/or members of their board of directors shall not be liable for any UGC posted or sent by users of the Services.

Merriam-Webster does not have any obligation to monitor, edit or delete UGC, but may do so in its sole discretion. UGC including, but not limited to, the following may be deleted or edited by Merriam-Webster:

Abusive or hurtful UGC about a commentor or another participant;
Off-topic and redundant UGC (this includes promotion of events, groups, pages, Web sites, organizations and programs not related to or affiliated with Merriam-Webster);
UGC that uses foul or hateful language;
Personal attacks or defamatory statements or comments;
UGC that violate the privacy of our users;
UGC that is obscene, threatening, harassing, deceptive or fraudulent;
UGC directed at children under the age of 13;
UGC that may infringe any patent, trademark, trade secret, copyright, or other intellectual or proprietary right of any party or individual; and
UGC that violates applicable laws or regulations.

By submitting UGC, you understand and acknowledge that this information is available to the public, and that we may use this information for internal and external promotional purposes. Please note that other visitors to the Services may use your posted UGC beyond the control of Merriam-Webster. Except as expressly permitted by these Terms of Use, no other rights or licenses are granted to or implied for the use of UGC by visitors to the Services, including any right to use UGC for purposes of training a machine learning or AI model, without the express permission of rightsholders in the applicable UGC. If you do not wish to have the UGC you have made available via the Services used, published, copied and/or reprinted as permitted herein, please do not post UGC on the Services.

Linking to the Services: For details on how to link to the Services, click here. Please contact Merriam-Webster when you link to the Services, so that Merriam-Webster can better understand how its content is being accessed and so that you can be contacted when changes are made to the Services that could invalidate your links. Any linking to the Services will be at your own risk and expense.

By linking to the Services, you agree that you will not:

imply in any way, by manner of presentation of the link or otherwise, that Merriam-Webster endorses your site, products or services, or that you are affiliated with Merriam-Webster in any way;
frame Merriam-Webster content, surround it with your own advertising or identity, or charge a fee for any link to the Services;
link to the Services from any Web page or Web site containing libelous, obscene or criminal material, or material that infringes, violates, or advocates the infringement or violation of any third-party rights; or
host, publish, broadcast, rewrite or redistribute any content on the Services except as permitted in these Terms of Use or as specifically permitted by Merriam-Webster.

Mobile Application Services: You may download certain mobile applications from either Merriam-Webster Web sites or third-party app stores. All of these Terms of Use, including the notices contained in our Privacy Policy, apply to the maximum extent relevant to your use of such Merriam-Webster mobile applications. Prices for our mobile applications may change at any time, and the Services do not provide price protection or refunds in the event of a price reduction or promotional offering.

Disclaimer of Warranties: THE SERVICES AND ALL INFORMATION, PRODUCTS, AND OTHER CONTENT INCLUDED IN OR ACCESSIBLE FROM THE SERVICES ARE PROVIDED "AS IS" AND WITHOUT WARRANTIES OF ANY KIND (EXPRESS, IMPLIED, AND STATUTORY, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE IMPLIED WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY AND FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE), ALL OF WHICH MERRIAM-WEBSTER EXPRESSLY DISCLAIMS TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY LAW.

Limitation of Liability: IN NO EVENT SHALL MERRIAM-WEBSTER, ITS DIRECTORS, OFFICERS, SHAREHOLDERS, PARENTS, SUBSIDIARIES, AFFILIATES, AGENTS AND LICENSORS, OR CONTENT PROVIDERS BE LIABLE: (i) FOR ANY INDIRECT, SPECIAL, INCIDENTAL, PUNITIVE, OR CONSEQUENTIAL DAMAGES ARISING OUT OF OR RELATED TO THE USE, INABILITY TO USE, PERFORMANCE OR NONPERFORMANCE OF THE SERVICES, EVEN IF MERRIAM-WEBSTER WAS PREVIOUSLY ADVISED OF THE POSSIBILITY OF SUCH DAMAGES AND REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH DAMAGES ARISE IN CONTRACT, TORT, UNDER STATUTE, IN EQUITY, AT LAW, OR OTHERWISE; AND (ii) FOR ANY DAMAGES, LOSSES AND/OR CAUSES OF ACTION EXCEEDING ONE THOUSAND U.S. DOLLARS (US $1,000) IN THE AGGREGATE.

SOME JURISDICTIONS DO NOT ALLOW LIMITATIONS ON IMPLIED WARRANTIES OR THE EXCLUSION OR LIMITATION OF CERTAIN DAMAGES, SO SOME OF THE ABOVE LIMITATIONS AND EXCLUSIONS MAY NOT APPLY TO YOU.

Indemnification: To the fullest extent permitted by law, you agree to indemnify and hold Merriam-Webster, its directors, officers, shareholders, parents, subsidiaries, affiliates, agents, and licensors harmless from and against all losses, expenses, damages, and costs, including reasonable attorneys' fees, arising out of (i) the information or material you submit, including, but not limited to, liability for violations of copyrights, trademark rights, trade secret rights, or any other intellectual property rights, or the privacy or publicity rights of others, or liability for information or material you provide that is obscene, defamatory, threatening, harassing, abusive, hateful or embarrassing to any other person or entity, or is fraudulent or deceptive, (ii) your use or unauthorized copying of the Services or any of their content, or (iii) your violation of these Terms of Use or any applicable laws or regulations.

Governing Law & Venue: You agree that all matters relating to your access to or use of the Services and these Terms of Use, including all claims or disputes, will be governed by the laws of the United States and the State of Delaware, without giving effect to any principles of conflicts of laws, including the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods. By accessing or using the Services, you waive any claims that may arise under the laws of other states, countries, territories, or jurisdictions. Any claim or dispute relating to your access to or use of the Services or asserted under or relating to these Terms of Use shall be brought in the appropriate state or federal court located in New Castle County, Delaware, and we and you each irrevocably consent to the exclusive jurisdiction and venue of the state or federal courts in New Castle County, Delaware, for the adjudication of any such claim or dispute.

CLASS ACTION WAIVER: YOU AND MERRIAM-WEBSTER AGREE THAT EACH PARTY MAY BRING DISPUTES AGAINST THE OTHER PARTY ONLY IN AN INDIVIDUAL CAPACITY, AND NOT AS A PLAINTIFF OR CLASS MEMBER IN ANY PURPORTED CLASS OR REPRESENTATIVE PROCEEDING, INCLUDING, WITHOUT LIMITATION, A FEDERAL OR STATE CLASS ACTION LAWSUIT. NEITHER YOU NOR MERRIAM-WEBSTER WILL SEEK TO HAVE ANY DISPUTE HEARD AS A CLASS ACTION, PRIVATE ATTORNEY GENERAL ACTION, OR IN ANY OTHER PROCEEDING IN WHICH EITHER PARTY ACTS OR PROPOSES TO ACT IN A REPRESENTATIVE CAPACITY. Nothing in this paragraph limits your right or Merriam-Webster's right to bring a lawsuit against each other as an individual plaintiff.

Claims or Disputes Must be Filed Within One Year: To the extent permitted by law, any claim or dispute arising out of or related to the use of the Services or these Terms of Use must be filed within one year after such claim or dispute arose. The one-year period begins when the notice of such claim or dispute first could be filed. If such a claim or dispute is not filed within one year, it shall be permanently barred. Any claim by you that may arise in connection with these Terms of Use will be compensable by monetary damages and you will in no event be entitled to injunctive or other equitable relief.

Opting Out of Pop Under Ads: Some of our pop-under ads are not detected by Safari and other browsers. To opt out of pop-under ads visit http://optmd.com.

Not Advice. Information contained in the Services is not intended to be medical, legal, tax, financial or other advice and should not be considered medical, legal, tax, financial or other advice, nor is it intended to replace consultation with a qualified physician, attorney or other professional.

Severability. If any provision of these Terms of Use shall be unlawful, void or for any reason unenforceable, then that provision shall be deemed severable from these Terms of Use and shall not affect the validity and enforceability of any remaining provisions.

Survival. The provisions of these Terms of Use which by their nature should survive the termination of these Terms of Use shall survive such termination.

Waiver. No waiver of any provision of these Terms of Use shall be deemed a further or continuing waiver of such provision or any other provision, and your or our failure to assert any right or provision under these Terms of Use shall not constitute a waiver of such right or provision.

Entire Agreement. These Terms of Use constitute the entire agreement between Merriam-Webster and you, superseding any prior or contemporaneous communications and proposals (whether oral, written or electronic).

Section 2. Additional Terms of Use for Consumer Subscriptions and Parents and Guardians of Children Under 16 Years Old

Security of Subscription: Some of the Services are available only by subscription (the "Subscription Services"). Your right to use the Subscription Services for which you have subscribed is personal to you or members of your immediate family residing with you. If you are authorized only by an Institutional Subscriber (such as your employer, a school or library) to access and use any of the Subscription Services, your right to use the Subscription Services is not transferable to your family members; the Institutional Subscription-specific Terms of Use for individuals who benefit from an Institutional Subscription are at Section 3 below. You are responsible for protecting the confidentiality of your credentials for access to the Subscription Services (e.g., your username and password) and for complying with any guidelines prescribed by Merriam-Webster from time to time to prevent unauthorized access to the Subscription Services. You agree to immediately notify Merriam-Webster of any unauthorized use of your password or any other breach of security. Merriam-Webster reserves the right to perform one-way encryption of passwords for account maintenance purposes.

Notice to Parents and Guardians: By granting your child permission to use the Subscription Services, you agree to these Terms of Use on behalf of your child. You are responsible for monitoring and supervising your child's use of the Subscription Service in question. If your child is using our Subscription Service and is either under 16 or does not have your permission, please contact us immediately so that we can disable his or her access. If you have questions about whether the Subscription Service is appropriate for your child, please review contact us.

Subscriber Agreement: Please click here to subscribe and accept the subscription-specific Terms of Use.

Section 3. Additional Terms of Use for Individuals Who Are Authorized Users of Institutional Subscriptions

These additional terms apply to individuals who are Authorized Users of Institutional Subscriptions. Institutional Subscribers may be a business (Business), government agency (Agency), school and related facilities (School), college or university (University) or public library (Library). Authorized Users are the following: (i) employees, agents or representatives in the case of Businesses and Agencies; (ii) students of Subscriber, its faculty members, administrators, and employed staff in the case of Schools; (iii) full or part-time students of Subscriber, its faculty members, administrators and employed staff in the case of Universities; and (iv) patrons, employees, agents or representatives in the case of Libraries.

Remote Access. Only Authorized Users are permitted to access the Services remotely. Authorized Users are (a) in the case of Schools: its students, its faculty members, administrators, and employed staff; (b) in the case of Universities: its full or part-time students, its faculty members, administrators and employed staff; (c) in the case of Businesses and Government Agencies: employees, agents and representatives; and (d) in the case of a National, State or Public Library, its Library patrons, Library customers, and Library users, employees, agents and representatives. Only these individual persons are permitted to access the Services remotely. Schools, Universities, Businesses and Government Agencies who are members of a National, State or Public Library are not Authorized Users under a Library's license agreement with Merriam-Webster.

Section 4. Legal Notices

Copyrights

All contents of the Services are © Merriam-Webster, Incorporated or its licensors. All rights reserved. Merriam-Webster Online (www.Merriam-Webster.com) is copyrighted 2024 by Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Included within the Services are:

No part of the work embodied in Merriam-Webster's pages on the World Wide Web and covered by the copyrights hereon may be reproduced or copied in any form or by any means — graphic, electronic, or mechanical, including photocopying, taping, or information storage and retrieval systems — except as provided in these Terms of Use without the written permission of the publisher.

Requests for permission to use or reproduce should be mailed to: Permissions Editor, Merriam-Webster, Incorporated, P.O. Box 281, Springfield, MA 01102

Merriam-Webster claims no compilation copyright in images or materials that are subject to the GNU Free Documentation License or similar licenses.

Photographs and illustrations are copyrighted by their respective owners, as noted in the credits.

Trademarks

A MERRIAM-WEBSTER, MERRIAM-WEBSTER, COLLEGIATE, WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE, WEBSTER'S UNABRIDGED, WEBSTER'S THIRD NEW INTERNATIONAL AND DESIGN, MERRIAM-WEBSTER'S COLLEGIATE DICTIONARY AND DESIGN, CIRCLE WITH NW MONOGRAM AND WEBSTER'S, and QUORDLE are trademarks of Merriam-Webster, Incorporated. Any other marks that appear throughout the Services belong to Merriam-Webster, its affiliates, or third-party trademark owners. Except as permitted by applicable laws, you are prohibited from using any of the marks appearing on the Services without express written consent from the respective trademark owners.

Copyright Infringement Claims

If you believe that any copyright infringement exists on any of the Services, please use the following process to notify Merriam-Webster. We will act expeditiously to remove infringing material once informed. All claims of copyright infringement should be in writing and should be directed to our Designated Agent below:

Permissions Editor — Copyright Infringement
Merriam-Webster, Incorporated
47 Federal Street
Springfield, Massachusetts 01105
Fax: 413/731-5979
Phone: 413/734-3134
Email: Permissions Editor

Your notice must contain the following information:

Your physical or electronic signature (as either the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed or as a person authorized to act on behalf of such owner).
Identification of the copyrighted work claimed to have been infringed or, if multiple copyrighted works at a single online site are covered by a single claim, a representative list of such works at that online site.
Identification of the material that is claimed to be infringing or to be the subject of infringing activity and that is to be removed or access to which is to be disabled and information reasonably sufficient to permit Merriam-Webster to locate the material.
Information reasonably sufficient to permit Merriam-Webster to contact you, such as an address, telephone number and, if available, an electronic mail address.
A statement that you believe in good faith that use of the material in the manner complained of is not authorized by the copyright owner, its agent or the law.
A statement that the information in the notice is accurate and that, under penalty of perjury, you are the owner of an exclusive right that is allegedly infringed or are authorized to act on behalf of such owner.

Merriam-Webster has a policy of terminating in appropriate circumstances the subscriptions of users who are infringers of copyrights held by others. If your material is removed or access to it is disabled and you believe in good faith that a claim has been wrongly made against you, you may submit a counter-notification to Merriam-Webster. Your counter-notification must be in writing and sent to: