write-only memory

write-only memory (usually uncountable, plural write-only memories)

1. (computing) A type of computer memory to which data can be written, but from which it cannot be read.
   1. (informal) A failed or otherwise inoperative memory device.

The term originated as a joke, as there was thought to be no possible use for memory that cannot be read, and is still often used in this way (often as a euphemistic way of referring to a failed or otherwise nonfunctional memory device). However, it was soon realized that instances of write-only memory do actually occur in many real-life systems (although, in most real-life examples, the memory is only write-only from the perspective of a particular device, and can still be read by other devices, or by the user).

• WOM

• read-only memory
• random-access memory

• bit bucket