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Zombie processes are also known as "defunct" processes. This term describes a process that has completed its execution but still has an entry in the process table. This occurs because the process's parent has not yet read its exit status, which is necessary for the operating system to fully remove the process from the process table. Once the parent does collect this information, the system can clean up and remove the zombie process completely.

The name "defunct" emphasizes that the process is no longer active or running, yet it remains in a state that takes up a small amount of system resources. Understanding the concept of zombie processes is important for system administrators, as an excessive number of these processes can indicate issues with poorly written applications or services that do not properly handle their child processes.

Other terms like "sleeping" refer to processes that are in a wait state, fully different from the "defunct" state of zombie processes. While "entering" is not a recognized term in this context, it also does not relate to process states defined in Linux. Thus, the use of "defunct" accurately captures the essence of what zombie processes represent in a system.