debug

[dee-buhg] /diˈbʌg/
verb (used with object), debugged, debugging. Informal.
1.
to detect and remove defects or errors from.
2.
to remove electronic bugs from (a room or building).
3.
Computers. to detect and remove errors from (a computer program).
4.
to rid (a garden, plant, etc.) of insect pests, as by the application of a pesticide.
Origin
1940-45; de- + bug1
Related forms
debugger, noun
Examples from the web for debug
  • However, systems composed of interacting agents are notoriously difficult to test and debug.
  • And then you'd have to debug it and get it to work right.
  • She also coined the term debug was when she found the cause of an error that was actually a moth stuck in the machine.
British Dictionary definitions for debug

debug

/diːˈbʌɡ/
verb (transitive) -bugs, -bugging, -bugged
1.
to locate and remove concealed microphones from (a room, etc)
2.
to locate and remove defects in (a device, system, plan, etc)
3.
to remove insects from
noun
4.
  1. something, esp a computer program, that locates and removes defects in (a device, system, etc)
  2. (as modifier): a debug program
Word Origin
C20: from de- + bug1
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.

debug in Technology

software, tool
The bundled compiler/assembler for DOS/Windows after CP/M.
[Did CP/M have "DEBUG"?]
["DOS Power Tools, Techniques, Tricks, and Utilities, PC Magazine, Paul Somerson Executive Editor, Bantam Books, 1988].
(2003-06-17)