spin
A type of wait operation that continuously tests whether a resource becomes available. This technique is used for resources that are typically held only for brief periods, where it is more efficient to wait in a "busy loop" than to put the thread to sleep and perform a context switch. If the resource does not become available within a short time, the spin loop ceases and another wait technique is used.
See also latch.
See also lock.
See also mutex.
See also wait.