zombie process
<operating system> (Or "defunct process") A Unix process that has
terminated (either because it has been killed by a signal or because it has
called exit()) and whose parent process has not yet received notification of its
termination by executing (some form of) the wait() system call.
A zombie process exists solely as a process table entry and consumes no other
resources. This entry is retained to hold the child's exit status until the
parent process wants to retrieve it. The parent can also be notified
asynchronously via a signal of the child's termination.
Zombie processes can be seen in "ps" listings occasionally (with a status "Z" in
some versions).
Compare orphan process.
(1997-10-08)
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