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Dictionary maker gets behind 'blockchain' and 'cryptocurrency'

Merriam-Webster's website adds 850 new words and definitions, including a few popular digital-finance buzzwords.

Abrar Al-Heeti Technology Reporter
Abrar Al-Heeti is a technology reporter for CNET, with an interest in phones, streaming, internet trends, entertainment, pop culture and digital accessibility. She's also worked for CNET's video, culture and news teams. She graduated with bachelor's and master's degrees in journalism from the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign. Though Illinois is home, she now loves San Francisco -- steep inclines and all.
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You can now look up words like "blockchain" and "cryptocurrency" in the dictionary. 

Aaron Robinson/CNET

If you're not exactly sure what blockchain and cryptocurrency are, you have a new resource at your fingertips for finding out: the good ol' dictionary. 

Merriam-Webster has added 850 new terms to its site, including trendy words like "kombucha" and "life hack." 

Acknowledging a hot topic in tech and finance circles, the dictionary maker also created entries for "cryptocurrency," "blockchain" and "initial coin offering" ("the first sale of bitcoin-like digital currency," Merriam-Webster explains). It also welcomed "unicorn," the term venture capitalists use to refer to a startup valued at $1 billion or more.

Blockchain is the technology behind bitcoin, a digital currency (aka cryptocurrency) that's seen its fair share of fluctuations in value over the last year. 

It works this way: Certain online transactions create or build blockchains, ever-growing sets of data blocks that act as a kind of ledger. Instead of storing information on a central computer, blockchains distribute it across a group of computers.

And it's not just for finance. Blockchain can be used for a variety of purposes, from ensuring that food ordered online is legit to making sure a prescription drug isn't counterfeit

 Blockchain Decoded:  Get a closer look at the tech powering bitcoin -- and soon, too, a myriad of services that will change your life.

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