probe

probe

1. Surgery a slender and usually flexible instrument for exploring a wound, sinus, etc.

2. Electronics a lead connecting to or containing a measuring or monitoring circuit used for testing

3. Electronics a conductor inserted into a waveguide or cavity resonator to provide coupling to an external circuit

4. any of various devices that provide a coupling link, esp a flexible tube extended from an aircraft to link it with another so that it can refuel

probe

(spaceprobe) See planetary probe.

Probe

 

a medical instrument for examining hollow and tubular organs, normal and pathological canals, sinus passages, and wounds. Depending on their purpose, probes are manufactured from metal (steel, silver) or from elastic material.

By probing one may determine by touch the depth and breadth of a passage or cavity, its direction and shape, and the presence of foreign bodies. The use of hollow probes makes it possible to sample the contents of a hollow organ or to inject diagnostic and medicinal drugs (for example, a gastric probe). Certain types of probes can be attached to special instruments, making it possible to determine the pressure in the cavity of an organ, the fluctuation of electrical potentials, or the motor function of an organ (for example, probing the heart) for diagnostic purposes.

probe

[prōb]

(aerospace engineering)

An instrumented vehicle moving through the upper atmosphere or space or landing upon another celestial body in order to obtain information about the specific environment.

(biology)

A biochemical substance labeled with a radioactive isotope or tagged in some other way and used to identify or isolate a gene, a gene product, or a protein.

(communications)

To determine a radio interference by obtaining the relative interference level in the immediate area of a source by the use of a small, insensitive antenna in conjunction with a receiving device.

(electromagnetism)

A metal rod that projects into but is insulated from a waveguide or resonant cavity; used to provide coupling to an external circuit for injection or extraction of energy or to measure the standing-wave ratio. Also known as waveguide probe.

(engineering)

A small tube containing the sensing element of electronic equipment, which can be lowered into a borehole to obtain measurements and data.

(physics)

A small device which can be brought into contact with or inserted into a system in order to make measurements on the system; ordinarily it is designed so that it does not significantly disturb the system.

probe

i. A sensing device that extends into the airstream or gas stream for measuring pressure, velocity, or temperature.
ii. In air refueling, a projecting pipelike device installation on the receiving aircraft that makes a connection with the drogue to receive fuel from a tanker aircraft. See probe and drogue.
iii. An instrument boom (i.e., a boroscope). See boroscope.
iv. A mission into enemy territory to assess the alertness of its air defense system or to gather ELINT (electronic intelligence).

Probe

An object-oriented logic language based on ObjVlisp.

["Proposition d'une Extension Objet Minimale pour Prolog", Actes du Sem Prog en Logique, Tregastel (May 1987), pp. 483-506].

probe

A small utility program that is used to investigate, or test, the status of a system, network or website. Probes are mostly used for lawful purposes to determine if a device is functional. They can also be used by crackers to locate weaknesses in the system. A Web probe analyzes a website and reports data such as response time, security protocols supported and type of Web server. See ping.