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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.

RELATED WORDS

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

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
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

  1. something, esp a computer program, that locates and removes defects in (a device, system, etc)
  2. (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
v.

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.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper