desertion

n 1: withdrawing support or help despite allegiance or

responsibility; "his abandonment of his wife and

children left them penniless" [syn: {abandonment}, {defection}]

2: the act of giving something up [syn: {abandonment}, {forsaking}]

assertion

1. An expression which, if false, indicates an

{error}. Assertions are used for {debugging} by catching

{can't happen} errors.

2. In {logic programming}, a new {fact} or {rule} added to the

database by the program at {run time}. This is an

{extralogical} or impure feature of logic programming

languages.

(1997-06-30)