debug

[dee-buhg]

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verb (used with object), de·bugged, de·bug·ging. Informal.

to detect and remove defects or errors from.

to remove electronic bugs from (a room or building).

Computers. to detect and remove errors from (a computer program).

to rid (a garden, plant, etc.) of insect pests, as by the application of a pesticide.

Origin of debug

First recorded in 1940–45; de- + bug¹

Related formsde·bug·ger, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for debug

unscramble, repair, fix, untangle, remedy, adjust, unravel, correct

British Dictionary definitions for debug

debug

verb -bugs, -bugging or -bugged (tr)

to locate and remove concealed microphones from (a room, etc)

to locate and remove defects in (a device, system, plan, etc)

to remove insects from

noun

something, esp a computer program, that locates and removes defects in (a device, system, etc)
(as modifier)a debug program

Word Origin for debug

C20: from de- + bug 1

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for debug

1945, of machine systems, from de- + bug (n.) "glitch, defect in a machine." Meaning "to remove a concealed microphone" is from 1964. Related: Debugged; debugging.