deallocate
verbUK /diːˈæləkeɪt/
Etymology From de- + allocate.
1
To remove from the set of resources put aside for (allocated to) a particular user or purpose.
- Empty out your locker; it will be deallocated at the end of the day.
2
Computing, Engineering, Mathematics, Natural sciences, Physical sciences, Sciences To return previously allocated memory.
- Computer programs should deallocate memory they no longer need, releasing it back to the system.
- Similarly, the program deallocates storage for automatic objects when the procedure returns to its caller.2010, Randall Hyde, The Art of Assembly Language, 2nd edition, No Starch Press, →ISBN, page 267:
- Related terms
- deallocation, deallocator