reverse engineer

verb

reverse engineered; reverse engineering; reverse engineers

: 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 By reverse engineering Ganymede’s position, Hirata calculated that the moon’s impactor was 186 miles wide, or about 20 times the size of the Chicxulub asteroid. —

Shi En Kim, Smithsonian Magazine, 5 Sep. 2024 While the results can be impressive, the decompilation process can take years of painstaking manual effort, meaning only the most popular N64 games are likely to get the requisite attention from reverse engineers. —

Kyle Orland, Ars Technica, 17 May 2024 In 2020, SwRI was able to reverse engineer and hack the J1772 charger system – the most common charger type in the US – to disrupt the charging process, simulating a malicious attack. —

Joe Salas, New Atlas, 20 July 2024 If some clever hacker reverse engineers the algorithm, that system is suddenly wide open. —

PCMAG, 25 June 2024 See all Example Sentences for reverse engineer

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'reverse engineer.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

First Known Use

1973, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler

The first known use of reverse engineer was in 1973

See more words from the same year

Cite this Entry

Style

“Reverse engineer.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/reverse%20engineer. Accessed 4 Oct. 2024.

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