Word.ws English Dictionary

debugged

debugged is the simple past and past participle of debug.

Meaning of debug

Verb

debug (third-person singular simple present debugs, present participle debugging, simple past and past participle debugged)

  1. To search for and eliminate malfunctioning elements or errors in something, especially a computer program or machinery.
    • It ranged from the pre-design development of essential components, through the stage of type test and flight test and "debugging" right through to later development of the engine to higher powers and efficiency.1945, The Journal of the Royal Aeronautical Society, volume 49, page 183
  2. To remove a hidden electronic surveillance device from (somewhere).
    • Typical fees: $75 to check a particular telephone, $125 to debug one room, $500 to debug a suite of offices— all plus expenses and transportation.1969, John Millar Carroll, The Third Listener: Personal Electronic Espionage, page 30
  3. (US) To remove insects from (somewhere), especially lice.
    • Mr. Moses started out his garden this year with only two toads. As they were differently marked, they soon became known as "Henry" and "Frank." Henry was strong in the pursuit of "ants." Every morning he is seen perched on his favorite hill "anting" for breakfast. Frank's occupation is that of...1905 June 15, A. J. R., “With the Long Bow”, in The Minneapolis Journal, Minneapolis, Minn., retrieved 15 Feb 2017, page 14
    Synonyms:
    delouse

See all 4 meanings of debug

Words formed from debugged

Questions about debugged

What is debugged the simple past and past participle of?
Debugged is the simple past and past participle of debug.

Words near debugged in the dictionary

  1. debugability
  2. debugee
  3. debugees
  4. debuggability
  5. debuggable
  6. debugged
  7. debuggee
  8. debuggees
  9. debugger
  10. debuggers
  11. debugging

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: debugged (page history and authors); debug (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated:

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: En-us-debugged.ogg.

Cite this entry: “debugged.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/debugged. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.