exploit

1 of 2

noun

ex·​ploit ˈek-ˌsplȯit  ik-ˈsplȯit 

plural exploits

: deed, act

especially : a notable, memorable, or heroic act

a daring exploit

a book about his youthful exploits

I took out the list of Professor Challenger's exploits, and I read it over under the electric lamp.

—Arthur Conan Doyle

About midnight the gang returned, with various articles of plunder, and talked over their exploits …

—Sir Walter Scott

It used to be rare for C.I.A. employees to recount their exploits, or grievances, in print.

—Alex Berenson

exploit

2 of 2

verb

ex·​ploit ik-ˈsplȯit  ˈek-ˌsplȯit 

exploited; exploiting; exploits

transitive verb

1

: to make productive use of : utilize

exploiting your talents

exploit your opponent's weakness

2

: to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage

exploiting migrant farm workers

exploited a tragedy for publicity

exploitability

ik-ˌsploi-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē 

noun

exploitable

ik-ˈsplȯi-tə-bəl 

adjective

exploiter noun

Synonyms of exploit

Noun

• feat
• stunt
• deed

Verb

• use
• leverage
• manipulate
• abuse

Choose the Right Synonym for exploit

feat, exploit, achievement mean a remarkable deed.

feat implies strength or dexterity or daring.

an acrobatic feat

exploit suggests an adventurous or heroic act.

his exploits as a spy

achievement implies hard-won success in the face of difficulty or opposition.

her achievements as a chemist

Examples of exploit in a Sentence

Noun

the fanciful exploits of the giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan

once famed as an actor, John Wilkes Booth is now remembered for a single exploit, his assassination of Lincoln

Verb

He has never fully exploited his talents.

Top athletes are able to exploit their opponents' weaknesses.

She said the tragedy had been exploited by the media.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

His frequent rollouts of cartel-busting exploits have become a hallmark of her administration. —Kate Linthicum, Los Angeles Times, 3 Mar. 2026

For the past five years, Hollywood stars Ryan Reynolds and Rob Mac have owned Wrexham AFC, the Welsh football club, with their exploits chronicled in the FX series Welcome to Wrexham. —Alex Weprin, HollywoodReporter, 3 Mar. 2026

Verb

This controversy will be an early test of how Mayor Mamdani balances his commitment to parks and open space against for-profit developer efforts to exploit the city’s housing crisis to circumvent zoning rules and renege on community commitments. —Katherine Thompson, New York Daily News, 2 Mar. 2026

Israeli officials have hinted the strike was expedited to exploit a daylight window of opportunity when senior Iranian leaders met. —Nick Paton Walsh, CNN Money, 1 Mar. 2026

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English espleit, expleit, esploit, exploit "furtherance, favorable outcome, outcome (good or bad), undertaking, military expedition, deed of arms," borrowed from Anglo-French espleit, esploit, exploit "carrying out, execution, achievement, course, success, gain," probably noun derivative of espleiter, esploiter "to carry out, achieve, expedite" — more at exploit entry 2

Verb

Middle English espleiten, expleiten, expleten, esploiten "to facilitate, expedite (a journey), fulfill (a need), execute, complete, relate, explain," borrowed from Anglo-French espleiter, esploiter, exploiter "to carry out, achieve, promote, expedite, make use of, use unfairly, progress, succeed, act," probably going back to Vulgar Latin *explicitāre, repetitive derivative of Latin explicāre "to free from folds or creases, unroll, disentangle, spread out, bring into play, exercise" — more at explicate

Note: The Middle English form expleten suggests association with Latin explēre "to fill up, carry to completion, accomplish" (compare expletive entry 2). Latinizing variants with ex- have completely replaced earlier es- in both English and French. Earlier standard etymological dictionaries of French (Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bloch and Wartburg's Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française) see the noun as the more basic form, going back to *explicitum, allegedly formed from the neuter of the Latin past participle explicitus (see explicit)—though the sense of the noun is active, not passive. Romance outcomes of *explicitāre are mainly restricted to Gallo-Romance (as Old Occitan esplechar "to make use of, execute, accomplish") and Catalan (esplet "harvest," espletar "to harvest"). Note that *explicitāre preserves only the figurative meaning "bring into play, exercise" of the root word explicāre, out of which French and English have elaborated further meanings. The sense "relate, explain" of the Middle English verb is not paralleled in French and did not survive into Modern English.

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for exploit

• adroit
• introit
• boite
• droit

Kids Definition

exploit

1 of 2 noun

ex·​ploit ˈek-ˌsplȯit  ik-ˈsplȯit 

: a brave or daring act

exploit

2 of 2 verb

ex·​ploit ik-ˈsplȯit  ˈek-ˌsplȯit 

1

: to get value or use from

exploit your talents

exploit an opponent's weaknesses

2

: to make use of unfairly for one's own advantage

exploiting migrant farm workers

exploitable

-ə-bəl 

adjective

exploitation

ˌek-ˌsplȯi-ˈtā-shən

noun

exploiter

ik-ˈsplȯit-ər, 

ˈek-ˌsplȯit-

noun