jailbreak

noun

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jail·break | \ ˈjāl-ˌbrāk

Definition of jailbreak

(Entry 1 of 2)

: a forcible escape from jail

jailbreak

verb

jailbroke\ ˈjāl-ˌbrōk

\; jailbreaking; jailbreaks

Definition of jailbreak (Entry 2 of 2)

transitive verb

: to remove built-in limitations from (an electronic device, such as a cell phone) I'm not trying to be overly snarky here, but for … in-house app distribution, I see no need or advantage to jailbreaking an iOS device.— John Welch Last week we learned you can jailbreak every current model of Kindle.— Thorin Klosowski Apple makes it nearly impossible for the average user to download apps from anywhere else unless you jailbreak your phone.— Peter Wells

Examples of jailbreak in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web: Noun It had long been suspected, but never before confirmed, that the monkeys’ ancestors were involved in a jailbreak from the facility, which had captured and imprisoned them with the intention of selling them for medical research. — Suzanne Rowan Kelleher, Forbes, 21 May 2021 Plus: An iOS 14 jailbreak is out, Solarwinds details emerge, and more of the week's top security news. — Brian Barrett, Wired, 6 Mar. 2021 Taliban militants staged a massive jailbreak in Kandahar, Afghanistan, as some 480 inmates escaped through a tunnel that had been dug over a matter of months. — BostonGlobe.com, 24 Apr. 2021 The jailbreak garnered attention nationwide and in Vietnamese-language media because two of the fugitives, Duong and Tieu, were Vietnamese immigrants. — Priscella Vega, Los Angeles Times, 9 Apr. 2021 The massive jailbreak occurred before dawn on Monday in Owerri, the capital of Imo state. — Morgan Winsor, ABC News, 6 Apr. 2021 The latest iPhone jailbreak was released on Saturday, February 27th. — Jacob Siegal, BGR, 1 Mar. 2021 But while Margaret was released after providing incriminating information on other gang members, Richard, whose jailbreak had left one guard dead, received no such deal. — Meilan Solly, Smithsonian Magazine, 1 Mar. 2021 But the jailbreak was a sensation, inspired a stage play and, in Britain, conferred on Blake an aura of almost Bond-like derring-do. — The Economist, 27 Feb. 2021

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'jailbreak.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.