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

But because investigative genetic genealogy is sparsely regulated, investigators simply can ignore the terms of service and use the platforms under the guise of a normal user, Ram said. —Matt Hubbard, Baltimore Sun, 20 June 2024

Earlier this month, Adobe’s new terms of service were met with backlash after some interpreted the move as an opportunity to train its AI on users’ art. —Emma Roth, The Verge, 17 June 2024

The software maker is facing an uprising over a new language in its terms of service for customers who use one of its key products, Creative Cloud Suite, according to 9to5Mac. —Byverne Kopytoff, Fortune, 7 June 2024

The new terms of service are expected to roll out on June 18th and aim to better clarify what Adobe is permitted to do with its customers’ work, according to Adobe’s president of digital media, David Wadhwani. —Jess Weatherbed, The Verge, 10 June 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1994, in the meaning defined above