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splat

n. countable
C1 Advanced US //ˈspɫæt// UK //splˈæt// splat Slang

n. a sudden, loud noise that happens when something soft hits a hard surface. It is also used in computing to describe a file that shows what went wrong when a program crashed.

n. a sudden, loud, wet-sounding noise; in a technical context, a file containing a memory dump of a program's state at the time of a crash. Informal in register; frequently used in software development to describe error logs.


SIMPLE

The rain made a loud splat against the window.

CONTEXTUAL

The developer checked the latest splat to see why the application crashed during the login process.

COMPLEX

While the physical splat of the rain was a minor annoyance, the digital splat provided the critical data needed to identify the memory leak in the kernel module.

Etymology 1

From earlier splat (“to spread flat”), from Middle English splatten, splaten (“to stretch out, extend", also "to split”). Compare dialectal English splat (“flat”).

Etymology 2

Onomatopoeic.

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