/noh'op/ alt. NOP /nop/ [no operation] 1. A machine
instruction that does nothing (sometimes used in
assembler-level programming as filler for data or patch areas,
or to overwrite code to be removed in binaries). See also
2. A person who contributes nothing to a project, or has
nothing going on upstairs, or both. As in "He's a no-op."
3. Any operation or sequence of operations with no effect,
such as circling the block without finding a parking space, or
putting money into a vending machine and having it fall
immediately into the coin-return box, or asking someone for
help and being told to go away. "Oh, well, that was a no-op."
Hot-and-sour soup that is insufficiently either is "no-op
soup"; so is wonton soup if everybody else is having
hot-and-sour.
(1994-12-02)