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From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (27 SEP 03) : [ foldoc ]
system call
The mechanism used by an
application program to request service from the operating
system. System calls often use a special machine code
instruction which causes the processor to change mode (e.g. to
"supervisor mode" or "{protected mode"). This allows the OS
to perform restricted actions such as accessing hardware
devices or the memory management unit.
(1995-03-01)
From WordNet (r) 2.0 : [ wn ]
system call
n : an instruction that interrupts the program being executed
and passes control to the supervisor [syn: supervisor
call instruction]
From English-Romanian FreeDict Dictionary ver. 0.6.3 : [ freedict:eng-rom ]system call /sˈɪstəm kˈɔːl/ apel sistem