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kernel panic

kernel panic noun: on Unix-derived operating systems, an action taken by the operating system when it cannot recover from a fatal error, where the system halts, displays an error, and dumps kernel memory to disk.

Noun

kernel panic (plural kernel panics)

  1. On Unix-derived operating systems, an action taken by the operating system when it cannot recover from a fatal error, where the system halts, displays an error, and dumps kernel memory to disk.
    • If the timer doesn't get updated, watchdog will notice and force a kernel panic.2005, Karl Kopper, The Linux Enterprise Cluster, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 178
    Synonyms:
    panic

Synonyms of kernel panic

Forms of kernel panic

pluralkernel panics

Questions about kernel panic

What does kernel panic mean?
Kernel panic means on Unix-derived operating systems, an action taken by the operating system when it cannot recover from a fatal error, where the system halts, displays an error, and dumps kernel memory to disk.
What part of speech is kernel panic?
Kernel panic is a noun.
What is the plural of kernel panic?
The plural of kernel panic is kernel panics.

Words near kernel panic in the dictionary

  1. kernel hacker
  2. kernel hackers
  3. kernel of truth
  4. kernel pair
  5. kernel pairs
  6. kernel panic
  7. kernel panics
  8. kernel sentence
  9. kernel sentences
  10. kernel space
  11. kernelate

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: kernel panic (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.

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