Wiktionary
n. (context computing English) The recorded state of the memory of a computer program at a specific time, generally when the program has terminated abnormally.
WordNet
n. (computer science) dump of the contents of the chief registers in the CPU
Wikipedia
In computing, a core dump (in Unix parlance), memory dump, or system dump consists of the recorded state of the working memory of a computer program at a specific time, generally when the program has crashed or otherwise terminated abnormally. In practice, other key pieces of program state are usually dumped at the same time, including the processor registers, which may include the program counter and stack pointer, memory management information, and other processor and operating system flags and information. Core dumps are often used to assist in diagnosing and debugging errors in computer programs.
The name comes from magnetic core memory, the principal form of random access memory from the 1950s to the 1970s. The name has remained long after magnetic core technology became obsolete.
On many operating systems, a fatal error in a program automatically triggers a core dump; by extension the phrase "to dump core" has come to mean, in many cases, any fatal error, regardless of whether a record of the program memory results. The term "core dump", "memory dump", or just "dump" has also become a jargon to indicate any storing of a large amount of raw data for further examination or other purposes.
Usage examples of "core dump".
This module withdraws the announcement of an emergency core dump at twenty-six-hundred hours.
He'd have to bring over a mem device from the Hound's Tooth so he could do a core dump and take everything back to his own ship, to be sorted out at his leisure.
Any attempt to tamper or gain access will cause a core dump of all information.