reverse engineer

verb

reverse engineered; reverse engineering; reverse engineers

transitive verb

: to disassemble and examine or analyze in detail (a product or device) to discover the concepts involved in manufacture usually in order to produce something similar
reverse engineering noun

Examples of reverse engineer in a Sentence

They reverse engineered the software.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
The most compelling applications don’t try to reverse engineer what colleges want. Liz Doe Stone, Forbes.com, 14 Aug. 2025 That’s like asking a microelectronics engineer to reverse engineer the architecture, microcode, and operating system running on a state-of-the-art processor without the use of a digital logic probe, which would be a virtually impossible task. IEEE Spectrum, 28 May 2022 See All Example Sentences for reverse engineer

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of reverse engineer was in 1973

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Cite this Entry

“Reverse engineer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reverse%20engineer. Accessed 9 Sep. 2025.

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
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