glitch (gl ch)n. 1. A minor malfunction, mishap, or technical problem; a snag: a computer glitch; a navigational glitch; a glitch in the negotiations. 2. A false or spurious electronic signal caused by a brief, unwanted surge of electric power. 3. Astronomy A sudden change in the period of rotation of a neutron star. [Probably from Yiddish glitsh, a slip, lapse, from glitshn, to slip, from Middle High German glitschen, alteration of gl  ten, to glide, from Old High German gltan; see ghel-2 in Indo-European roots.]glitch  y adj.Word History: Although glitch seems a word that people would always have found useful, it is first recorded in English in 1962 in the writing of John Glenn: "Another term we adopted to describe some of our problems was 'glitch.' " Glenn then gives the technical sense of the word the astronauts had adopted: "Literally, a glitch is a spike or change in voltage in an electrical current." It is easy to see why the astronauts, who were engaged in a highly technical endeavor, might have generalized a term from electronics to cover other technical problems. Since then glitch has passed beyond technical use and now covers a wide variety of malfunctions and mishaps. |
glitch [glɪtʃ]
n
1. (Electronics) a sudden instance of malfunctioning or irregularity in an electronic system
2. (Astronomy) a change in the rotation rate of a pulsar
[of unknown origin]
ThesaurusLegend: Synonyms Related Words Antonyms
| Noun | 1. | glitch - a fault or defect in a computer program, system, or machine |
glitch
noun problem, difficulty, fault, flaw, bug (informal), hitch, snag, uphill (S. African), interruption, blip, malfunction, kink, gremlin, fly in the ointment Manufacturing glitches have limited the factory's output.
Translations
glitch
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