buzz

buzz [bəz]

(aerospace engineering)

Sustained oscillation of an aerodynamic control surface caused by intermittent flow separation on the surface, or by a motion of shock waves across the surface, or by a combination of flow separation and shock-wave motion on the surface.

(control systems)

dither

(electronics)

The condition of a combinatorial circuit with feedback that has undergone a transition, caused by the inputs, from an unstable state to a new state that is also unstable.

(fluid mechanics)

In supersonic diffuser aerodynamics, a nonsteady shock motion and airflow associated with the shock system ahead of the inlet.

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1.		buzz - Of a program, to run with no indication of progress and perhaps without guarantee of ever finishing; especially said of programs thought to be executing a tight loop of code. A program that is buzzing appears to be catatonic, but never gets out of catatonia, while a buzzing loop may eventually end of its own accord. "The program buzzes for about 10 seconds trying to sort all the names into order." See spin; see also grovel.
2.		buzz - [ETA Systems] To test a wire or printed circuit trace for continuity by applying an AC rather than DC signal. Some wire faults will pass DC tests but fail a buzz test.
3.		buzz - To process an array or list in sequence, doing the same thing to each element. "This loop buzzes through the tz array looking for a terminator type."