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thrashing

   Also found in: Dictionary/thesaurus, Legal, Idioms, Wikipedia, Hutchinson 0.01 sec.
thrashing: see threshing threshing or thrashing, separation of grain from the stalk on which it grows and from the chaff or pod that covers it. The first known method was by striking the reaped ears of grain with a flail.
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thrashing

In a virtual memory system, it is the excessive swapping of pages of data between memory and the hard disk, causing the application to respond more slowly. The virtual memory function tracks page usage and keeps often-used pages in memory as much as possible. However, the more applications that are kept open in computers with limited memory, the more thrashing occurs. For an explanation of the paging operation, see virtual memory.

Poor program design may also contribute to thrashing. Good program design dictates that the code for the core processing routines is kept contiguous. If core components are at all ends of the executable package, more thrashing occurs, but once again, when there is not enough memory.

The term may also be used to refer to any situation in which multiple processes are competing for the same resource, and the excessive swapping back and forth between connections causes a slowdown.

thrashing [′thrash·iŋ]
(computer science)
An undesirable condition in a multiprogramming system, due to overcommitment of main memory, in which the various tasks compete for pages and none can operate efficiently.
thrashing - thrash


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? Mentioned in ? References in classic literature
 
Suddenly we heard, at a little distance to our right and partly in front, a noise as of some animal thrashing about in the bushes, which we could see were violently agitated.
Can Such Things Be? by Bierce, Ambrose View in context
He sent for the carpenter, who, according to his orders, ought to have been at work at the thrashing machine.
Anna Karenina by Tolstoy, Leo View in context
There was, of course, a good deal of noise - running about, the, shouts of the sailors, the thrashing of the sails - enough, in fact, to wake the dead.
The Mirror of the Sea by Conrad, Joseph View in context
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