From WordNet (r) 2.0 (August 2003) [wn]:
trampoline
n : gymnastic apparatus consisting of a strong canvas sheet
attached with springs to a metal frame; used for tumbling
From The Free On-line Dictionary of Computing (19 Sep 2003) [foldoc]:
trampoline
An incredibly hairy technique, found in some HLL and
program-overlay implementations (e.g. on the Macintosh), that
involves on-the-fly generation of small executable (and,
likely as not, self-modifying) code objects to do indirection
between code sections. These pieces of live data are called
"trampolines". Trampolines are notoriously difficult to
understand in action; in fact, it is said by those who use
this term that the trampoline that doesn't bend your brain is
not the true trampoline. See also snap.
[Jargon File]
(2003-03-26)
From Jargon File (4.4.4, 14 Aug 2003) [jargon]:
trampoline
n.
An incredibly hairy technique, found in some HLL and
program-overlay implementations (e.g., on the Macintosh), that
involves on-the-fly generation of small executable (and, likely as
not, self-modifying) code objects to do indirection between code
sections. Under BSD and possibly in other Unixes, trampoline code is
used to transfer control from the kernel back to user mode when a
signal (which has had a handler installed) is sent to a process.
These pieces of live data are called trampolines. Trampolines are
notoriously difficult to understand in action; in fact, it is said by
those who use this term that the trampoline that doesn't bend your
brain is not the true trampoline. See also snap.