A humourous term for the token - the object (notional or real) that gives its possesSOr (the "pumpking" or the "pumpkineer") exclusive access to SOmething, e.g. applying patches to a master copy of SOurce (for which the pumpkin is called a "patch pumpkin"). Chip Salzenberg wrote: David Croy once told me once that at a previous job, there was one tape drive and multiple systems that used it for backups. But instead of SOme high-tech exclusion SOftware, they used a low-tech method to prevent multiple simultaneous backups: a stuffed pumpkin. No one was allowed to make backups unless they had the "backup pumpkin". (1999-02-23)