This column reflects the last observed state of each process. State names vary from system to system. These states are analagous to those that appear in the process states line: the second line of the display. The more common state names are listed below.
| cpu | Assigned to a CPU and currently running |
| run | Currently able to run |
| sleep | Awaiting an external event, such as input from a device |
| stop | Stopped by a signal, as with control Z |
| swap | Virtual address space swapped out to disk |
| zomb | Exited, but parent has not called "wait" to receive the exit status |