debuggingn.
/ˌdiːˈbʌɡɪŋ/, U.S. /ˌdiˈbəɡɪŋ/ 1. Originally and chiefly U.S. The action or an act of removing insect pests from a person or thing, esp. using a pesticide.
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1931 Wisconsin State Jrnl. 18 Jan. 3/5 As for most of my former shipmates, wherever they are—they probably would appreciate more a debugging.
1935 Times 21 Nov. 11/2 He instanced what had been done in rehousing people in Kennington, and said that some 98 per cent. of the removals required ‘debugging’.
1987 Associated Press (Nexis) 11 Aug. (headline) Agriculture Department to require debugging of exotic animals.
2008 T. Reed Double Cross vii. 114 Many said they'd be back that evening to complete the debugging.
2. The action or an act of identifying and remedying flaws or instances of malfunction in a machine, process, etc.; esp. (in later use) the action or process of identifying and remedying errors in a computer program, piece of software, etc.
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society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [noun] > debugging
debugging1941
1941 Radio July 96/2 After the usual and normal ‘debugging’ session using an a.c. power supply, the units should be ready to assemble.
1959 Trans. Amer. Inst. Electr. Engineers 78 33/3 When there are minor logic loops involved, these intermediate values are extremely important in debugging.
1970 A. Cameron et al. Computers & Old Eng. Concordances 49 Program translation, debugging, and trial runs of the concordance were performed at the University of Michigan Computer Center.
2013 C. Oxlade Gadgets & Games 27 Testing and debugging can take hundreds of hours.
3. Originally U.S. colloquial. The action or an act of detecting and removing a concealed microphone or similar piece of electronic surveillance equipment from a location, device, etc.
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1959 C. W. Thayer Diplomat xii. 147 Despite the most thorough debugging of his office no sign of a wire or a mike could be found.
1988 Washington Post (Nexis) 16 May f1 The company..sells business executives a range of security services, from the debugging of offices to the gathering of financial information.
2007 Sunday Mail (Glasgow) (Nexis) 6 May 29 Britain's biggest music and movie pirate..is running a firm that carries out debugging for celebrities and crooks.
Compounds
General attributive (now chiefly in sense 2).
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society > computing and information technology > programming language > program or code > [adjective] > used in debugging
diagnostic1953
debugging1959
the mind > attention and judgement > enquiry > investigation, inspection > secret observation, spying > electronic espionage > [adjective] > removing bugs
debugging1964
1931 Manitowoc (Wisconsin) Herald-News 2 July 15/1 Big ones, little ones and medium sized potato bugs are running over each other on the plants trying to get their share of the leaves before the spraying or (debugging) program starts.
1959 New Scientist 26 Mar. 674/1 The ‘debugging’ time spent in perfecting a non-automatic programme.
1964 Business Week 31 Oct. 154 (heading) When walls have ears, call a debugging man.
1983 Globe & Mail (Canada) (Nexis) 14 May Top debugging equipment is manufactured and sold discreetly within the professional community of investigators.
2007 A. Zeller Why Programs Fail xiii. 344 If a regression occurs, a common debugging strategy is to focus on the changes one made.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, March 2017; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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n.1931