Memory Leak: N. An Error In A Program's Dynamic-store Allocation Logic That Causes It To Fail To Reclaim Discarded Memory, Leading To Eventual Collapse Due To Memory Exhaustion.

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:memory leak: n. An error in a program's dynamic-store allocation
logic that causes it to fail to reclaim discarded memory, leading
to eventual collapse due to memory exhaustion. Also (esp. at
CMU) called {core leak}. These problems were severe on older
machines with small, fixed-size address spaces, and special "leak
detection" tools were commonly written to root them out. With the
advent of virtual memory, it is unfortunately easier to be sloppy
about wasting a bit of memory (although when you run out of memory
on a VM machine, it means you've got a *real* leak!). See
{aliasing bug}, {fandango on core}, {smash the stack},
{precedence lossage}, {overrun screw}, {leaky heap},
{leak}.
-- The AI Hackers Dictionary

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