cascade (redirected from cascading)

cascade

A connected series of devices or images. It often implies that the second and subsequent device takes over after the previous one is used up. For example, cascading tapes in a dual-tape backup system means the second tape is written after the first one is full. In a PC, a second IRQ chip is cascaded to the first, doubling the number of interrupts.

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cascade

1. a waterfall or series of waterfalls over rocks

2. 

a. a consecutive sequence of chemical or physical processes

b. (as modifier): cascade liquefaction

3. 

a. a series of stages in the processing chain of an electrical signal where each operates the next in turn

b. (as modifier): a cascade amplifier

4. the cumulative process responsible for the formation of an electrical discharge, cosmic-ray shower, or Geiger counter avalanche in a gas

5. the sequence of spontaneous decays by an excited atom or ion

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1.	(compiler)	cascade - A huge volume of spurious error-messages output by a compiler with poor error recovery. Too frequently, one trivial syntax error (such as a missing ")" or "}") throws the parser out of synch so that much of the remaining program text, whether correct or not, is interpreted as garbaged or ill-formed.
2.	(messaging)	cascade - A chain of Usenet followups, each adding some trivial variation or riposte to the text of the previous one, all of which is reproduced in the new message; an include war in which the object is to create a sort of communal graffito.
3.	(networking)	cascade - A collection of interconneced networking devices, typically hubs, that allows those devices to act together as a logical repeater.