core dump n.
[common Iron Age jargon,
preserved by Unix] 1. [techspeak] A copy of the contents of core, produced when a process is aborted by
certain kinds of internal error. 2. By extension, used for humans
passing out, vomiting, or registering extreme shock. "He dumped
core. All over the floor. What a mess." "He heard about X and
dumped core." 3. Occasionally used for a human rambling on
pointlessly at great length; esp. in apology: "Sorry, I dumped
core on you". 4. A recapitulation of knowledge (compare bits, sense 1). Hence, spewing all one knows
about a topic (syn. brain
dump), esp. in a lecture or answer to an exam question.
"Short, concise answers are better than core dumps" (from the
instructions to an exam at Columbia). See core.