What does "system call" mean?

A function provided by an operating system to allow userspace programs access to privileged features, such as accessing the system's hardware.

What is a synonym for "system call"?

Common synonyms include: ioctl, supervisor call instruction.

noun

noun ·Rare ·Advanced level

Noun

1
A function provided by an operating system to allow userspace programs access to privileged features, such as accessing the system's hardware.
"The OS provides a system call to open a file, returning file descriptor that can be used to access it."
2
an instruction that interrupts the program being executed and passes control to the supervisor wordnet
3
A particular invocation of an operating-system-provided system-call function.
"After a system call, control is returned to the process."

"The OS provides a system call to open a file, returning file descriptor that can be used to access it."