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 terminated abnormally (crashed). In practice, other key pieces of program state are usually dumped at the same time, including the processor register...
An image of a terminated process saved for debugging. A core file is created under the name core in the current directory of the process when an abnormal event occurs that results in the process's termination. 
In computing (especially UNIX) a core dump is a copy of the contents of core, produced when a process is aborted by certain kinds of internal error.
[n] - (computer science) dump of the contents of the chief registers in the CPU
noun (computer science) dump of the contents of the chief registers in the CPU; usually used for debugging