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Definition of "debug" []

  • To remove a hidden electronic device, such as a microphone, from: debug a conference room. (verb-transitive)
  • To make (a hidden microphone, for example) ineffective. (verb-transitive)
  • To search for and eliminate malfunctioning elements or errors in: debug a spacecraft before launch; debug a computer program. (verb-transitive)
  • To remove insects from, as with a pesticide. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "debug" in a sentence
  • "If you want to see some debug information from the fetchexec process, uncomment the line $debug = 1; in file config. inc."
  • "She was instrumental in developing COBOL and takes credit for inventing the word "debug" as applied to computers - she says because a moth disabled a computer she was working on during WWII, and she remarked that the computer needed "debugging.""
  • "The video showed Carrier IQ recording everything Eckhart entered into his phone, storing the data in what's known as a debug log."