Garbage collection

From Fresh Dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Noun 1.1.1 Related terms 1.2 Dictionary notes

English

Noun

garbage collection

1. A service, generally run by local government, for transporting household garbage to the appropriate facility.
2. (computer languages) A mechanism which ensures that resources no longer in use are made available for reuse.

   Automatic garbage collection isn’t foolproof, but it eliminates large classes of memory errors.

3. (computer languages) Automatic garbage collection.

Related terms

• garbage collect
• garbage collector
• GC

Dictionary notes

• American Heritage Dictionary (via answers.com) has no entry.
• Collins Word Exchange has an entry covering the computing sense.
• Merriam-Webster Online has no entry.
• MSN Encarta Dictionary has no entry.