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support

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.

(1) See tech support.

(2) A widely used term in the industry to mean "to provide the capabilities for" or "to interface to" or "to include some function."

Hardware Supports...
The phrase "device X supports Y" means that X contains built-in circuitry to perform Y or it can interface to a module that does. For example, "the CPU supports multiprocessing" means it has multiprocessing capabilities built in. "The computer supports Ethernet" means the computer includes Ethernet capability and can plug into an Ethernet network.

Software Supports...
The phrase "program X supports Y" means that X includes routines to perform the Y operation or to interface to another program that does. For example, if a development system "supports Windows," the system is used to create Windows applications. "Application X supports database Y" means that X can connect to Y and has built-in routines to interact with it.

support - After-sale handholding; something many software vendors promise but few deliver. To hackers, most support people are useless - because by the time a hacker calls support he or she will usually know the software and the relevant manuals better than the support people (sadly, this is *not* a joke or exaggeration). A hacker's idea of "support" is a tête-à-tête or exchange of electronic mail with the software's designer.


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
In Switzerland they support the Radicals, without losing sight of the fact that this party consists of antagonistic elements, partly of Democratic Socialists, in the French sense, partly of radical bourgeois.
The Communist Manifesto by Marx, Karl & Engles, Frederick View in context
Altho' I cannot agree with you in supposing that I shall never again be exposed to Misfortunes as unmerited as those I have already experienced, yet to avoid the imputation of Obstinacy or ill-nature, I will gratify the curiosity of your daughter; and may the fortitude with which I have suffered the many afflictions of my past Life, prove to her a useful lesson for the support of those which may befall her in her own.
Love and Friendship by Austen, Jane View in context
Thus, the reader will see that I had no claim to be regarded as a martyr to filial piety, going forth to sacrifice peace and liberty for the sole purpose of laying up stores for the comfort and support of my parents: though certainly the comfort of my father, and the future support of my mother, had a large share in my calculations; and fifty pounds appeared to me no ordinary sum.
Agnes Grey by Bronte, Anne View in context
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