Dictionary.net

/jag'eez/ (Or "staircase") The "staircase" effectobservable when an edge (especially a linear edge of veryshallow or steep slope) is rendered on a bitmap display (asopposed to a vector display). The effect is even morepronounced when a bitmap image or text in a bitmap font isenlarged. Outline fonts and anti-aliasing are twotechniques used to solve this problem with text.