Glitch

4 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  glitch \glitch\ n.
     1. A fault or defect in a system, plan, or machine.
  
     Syn: bug.
          [WordNet 1.5]
  


     2. (Elect.) A brief surge or interruption in the voltage in
        an electrical circuit or device.
        [PJC]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  glitch
       n : a fault or defect in a system or machine [syn: {bug}]

From Jargon File (4.3.1, 29 Jun 2001) [jargon]:

  glitch /glich/ [very common; from German `glitschig' slippery, via
     Yiddish `glitshen', to slide or skid] 1. n. A sudden interruption in
     electric service, sanity, continuity, or program function. Sometimes
     recoverable. An interruption in electric service is specifically called
     a `power glitch' (also {power hit}), of grave concern because it usually
     crashes all the computers. In jargon, though, a hacker who got to the
     middle of a sentence and then forgot how he or she intended to complete
     it might say, "Sorry, I just glitched". 2. vi. To commit a glitch. See
     {gritch}. 3. vt. [Stanford] To scroll a display screen, esp. several
     lines at a time. {{WAITS}} terminals used to do this in order to avoid
     continuous scrolling, which is distracting to the eye. 4. obs. Same as
     {magic cookie}, sense 2.
  
     All these uses of `glitch' derive from the specific technical meaning
     the term has in the electronic hardware world, where it is now
     techspeak. A glitch can occur when the inputs of a circuit change, and
     the outputs change to some {random} value for some very brief time
     before they settle down to the correct value. If another circuit
     inspects the output at just the wrong time, reading the random value,
     the results can be very wrong and very hard to debug (a glitch is one of
     many causes of electronic {heisenbug}s).
  
  

From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) [foldoc]:

  glitch
       
          /glich/ [German "glitschen" to slip, via Yiddish "glitshen",
          to slide or skid] 1. (Electronics) When the inputs of a
          circuit change, and the outputs change to some {random} value
          for some very brief time before they settle down to the
          correct value.  If another circuit inspects the output at just
          the wrong time, reading the random value, the results can be
          very wrong and very hard to debug (a glitch is one of many
          causes of electronic {heisenbug}s).
       
          2. A sudden interruption in electric service, sanity,
          continuity, or program function.  Sometimes recoverable.  An
          interruption in electric service is specifically called a
          "power glitch" (or {power hit}), of grave concern because it
          usually crashes all the computers.  See also {gritch}.
       
          2. [Stanford] To scroll a display screen, especially several
          lines at a time.  {WAITS} terminals used to do this in order
          to avoid continuous scrolling, which is distracting to the
          eye.
       
          4. Obsolete.  Same as {magic cookie}.
       
          [{Jargon File}]