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Meaning & use

data dump

noun·Advancedcomputinginformal

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UK/ˈdeɪ.tə ˌdʌmp/
US/ˈdeɪ.t̬ə ˌdʌmp/

Meanings

  1. nouncountablecomputing

    A large copy of raw information exported or transferred from a computer system or database in one go, often unsorted.

    Grammar: Usually a countable noun: a data dump arrived overnight.

    Patterns

    • a data dump from something
    • a data dump of something

    The engineers requested a full data dump from the server after the crash.

    Hackers released a massive data dump of customer records online.

    I received a data dump with ten thousand rows and no column labels.

  2. nouncountableinformalfigurative

    An overwhelming amount of information delivered all at once, usually without explanation or structure.

    Grammar: Figurative use; often disapproving: the meeting was a data dump.

    Patterns

    • a data dump on someone

    The presentation was just a data dump with no clear conclusion.

    Please send a summary instead of another data dump.

    His email was a data dump that left everyone confused.

Word forms

pluraldata dumps

Common combinations

massive data dump
The leak was a massive data dump of internal emails.
request a data dump
We requested a data dump from the vendor.
release a data dump
The group released a data dump on Friday.
raw data dump
A raw data dump is hard to analyze.
data dump of records
A data dump of user records was posted online.

Synonyms and how they differ

export
Export is neutral and describes any file copied out of a system, while data dump implies bulk and little organization.
core dump
Core dump is a narrower technical term for memory saved when a program crashes.
information overload
Information overload describes the feeling of receiving too much, not the delivery itself.
data leak
A data leak implies information escaped without permission, which a data dump does not always do.

Opposites

summary

Word family

data noun
facts and figures stored or analyzed
dump verb
to unload or discard in bulk
database noun
an organized collection of data
dumping noun
the act of unloading something in bulk

Commonly confused: data dump or data breach?

data dump vs data breach

A data breach is a security incident where information is stolen; a data dump is just a bulk copy and may be legitimate.

Practice

The analyst asked IT for a ___ of last year's sales database so she could study it offline.

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