dereference
/dɪˈɹɛfɹəns/
Word Rarity
Very rare
Frequency: Zipf frequency 1.40 in modern English
17
Scrabble Score
11
Letters
3
Syllables
6
Unique Chars
Meaning
verb
To access the value or object located in a memory location addressed by a pointer or another value interpreted as such; to access a value being referenced by something else.
verb
To operate on the file or directory pointed to by a symbolic link, rather than on the link itself.
verb
To dissolve a symbolic link by replacing it with a copy of its target.
noun
The act by which something is dereferenced.
Example Sentences
- "Attempting to dereference a null pointer often results in a crash."
- "With the find command, any symbolic links appearing after -follow will be dereferenced."
- "Either each dereference must use a complicated DCAS protocol, or each pointer must include a version number that is managed on each modification and checked on each dereference, or storage management must be tightly coupled […]"
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *de Proto-Indo-European *-h₁ Proto-Indo-European *déh₁ Proto-Italic *dē Latin dē Latin dē-der. English de- English reference English dereference From de- + reference.
Regional Pronunciation
- British English: /dɪˈɹɛfɹəns/