Phrase guide

destructive read

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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1

noun

Meaning 1

A read operation that inherently erases the data that was read, requiring it to be immediately written back to the storage medium to prevent loss of data.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: attributive, often

Topics: computing, engineering, mathematics, natural-sciences, physical-sciences, sciences

Examples

  • Although ferroelectric RAM has many advantages over conventional DRAM, it does share one of DRAM's disadvantages: as with DRAM, reading a FeRAM cell is a destructive read process which erases any data in the cell. When using FeRAM for persistent nonvolatile storage, this destructive-read nature can potentially result in data loss or corruption if power to the device is suddenly lost during a read operation.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

No etymology was provided for this word.