wabbit
English edit
Pronunciation edit
Etymology 1 edit
Scots wabbit, ultimate origin uncertain.
Adjective edit
wabbit (comparative more wabbit, superlative most wabbit)
Etymology 2 edit
Representing pronunciation of rabbit by children and some adults who have trouble saying the English r (the cartoon character Elmer Fudd is a caricature of the latter). Computing sense refers to the ability of rabbits to multiply quickly.
Noun edit
wabbit (plural wabbits)
- (humorous, childish, pronunciation spelling) A rabbit.
- (computing) A self-replicating computer process that (unlike a virus or worm) does not infect host programs or documents and remains on the local computer rather than spreading across networks of computers. [from 1974]
- Coordinate term: fork bomb
- 2002, Philip E. N. Howard, “Hacktivism”, in Steve Jones, editor, Encyclopedia of New Media, SAGE Publications, →ISBN, page 216:
- For example, a hacker might write a quine virus program that generates complete copies of itself as part of its output, a worm virus program that reproduces itself across a network, or a wabbit virus program designed to perpetually duplicate itself, at least until the system crashes. In contrast to the wabbit's slow growth, a fork bomb quickly generates multiple copies itself[sic].
Further reading edit
Scots edit
Alternative forms edit
Etymology edit
Uncertain.
Adjective edit
wabbit (comparative mair wabbit, superlative maist wabbit)