DEBUG
What does "DEBUG" mean?
To find and remove errors or faults from computer hardware or software.
Meanings
- To detect and fix problems in a program or system. She spent the afternoon trying to debug the login page.
- To remove hidden listening or recording devices from a room or object. Security swept the office to debug it before the negotiation.
Did you know?
- In 1947 operators of Harvard's Mark II found a real moth jammed in a relay, taped it into the logbook, and wrote 'first actual case of bug being found' - the literal bug behind the term debug, now held by the Smithsonian.
Word origin
Coined in the 1940s computing era from 'de-' 'remove' plus 'bug' meaning a flaw or fault; the engineering sense of 'bug' for a defect predates electronic computers.
Remember it
DEBUG = DE (remove) + BUG: you are de-bugging, pulling the bugs out.
A little poem
One line in ten thousand goes wrong-
you read each one, slow and gray,
to pull a single moth away.
tercet
Wordplay
- Why did the programmer call an exterminator? The code had a bug she couldn't debug.
What it teaches
You cannot debug a system you refuse to look at closely - the fault hides exactly where you stop reading.
Quick facts
What does DEBUG mean?
To find and remove errors or faults from computer hardware or software.
Is DEBUG a valid word?
Yes — DEBUG is one of the answer words in Wordul, the daily word game.
How many letters is DEBUG?
DEBUG has 5 letters and 2 syllables.
Where does DEBUG come from?
Coined in the 1940s computing era from 'de-' 'remove' plus 'bug' meaning a flaw or fault; the engineering sense of 'bug' for a defect predates electronic computers.
What can DEBUG teach us?
You cannot debug a system you refuse to look at closely - the fault hides exactly where you stop reading.
How players do
Be the first to solve it.