processed

adj 1: subjected to a special process or treatment; "prepared

ergot"; "processed cheeses are easy to spread"

2: freed from impurities by processing; "refined sugar";

"refined oil"; "to gild refined gold"- Shakespeare [syn: {refined}]

[ant: {unrefined}]

3: prepared or converted from a natural state by subjecting to

a special process; "processed ores" [ant: {unprocessed}]

process

An executing {program}. A

process consists of the program {code} (which may be shared

with other processes which are executing the same program),

and some private data. It may have other associated resources

such as a {process identifier}, open files, {CPU time} limits,

{shared memory}, {child processes}, and {signal handlers}.

A {multitasking} {operating system} can run multiple processes

{concurrently} or in {parallel}.

(1996-12-09)