terms of service

plural noun

: the legal terms (see term entry 1 sense 4) that set forth the nature, scope, and limits of a service (such as one offered through a website or an app) and the rules that the service's users must agree to follow

… Twitter users' complaints alerted the company that three of his messages violated the terms of service …

—Jake Tapper

… most people have no idea what is signed away when they click "agree" to binding terms of service contracts—again and again on phones, laptops, tablets, watches, e-readers and televisions.

—The New York Times

—abbreviation TOS

Examples of terms of service in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

However, the use of VPNs to bypass geo-restrictions may violate terms of service or local laws in some jurisdictions. —Kurt Knutsson, Cyberguy Report, Fox News, 26 Oct. 2024

Both initiatives sought to keep platforms from enforcing their terms of service, on the grounds that the companies were violating Americans’ free-speech rights. —Cnn.com Wire Service, The Mercury News, 22 Oct. 2024

But the language in the new terms of service does not differentiate between the types of accounts. —Ramishah Maruf, CNN, 21 Oct. 2024

Related Disney wants to dismiss a wrongful death lawsuit because of a Disney Plus agreement Many services put mandatory arbitration agreements in their terms of service, which people may not even read or fully understand. —Emma Roth, The Verge, 27 Sep. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above