jailbreak

1 of 2

noun

jail·​break ˈjāl-ˌbrāk 

: a forcible escape from jail

jailbreak

2 of 2

verb

jailbroke ˈjāl-ˌbrōk  ; jailbreaking; jailbreaks

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

These often fall into two broad categories: jailbreaks and prompt injections. —Matt Burgess, WIRED, 17 Oct. 2024

The country has suffered a rash of recent jailbreaks. —Stuart A. Reid, Foreign Affairs, 12 Dec. 2017

Verb

This makes sure that the models can stand up to attempts to jailbreak them or manipulate them in other ways. —Janakiram Msv, Forbes, 13 Sep. 2024

The developers are trying to tamp down users’ ability to jailbreak their systems and put those systems to nefarious work, such as that highlighted by Shah, Pour and their colleagues. —Chris Stokel-Walker, Scientific American, 6 Dec. 2023

Word History

First Known Use

Noun

1910, in the meaning defined above

Verb

2007, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

jailbreak

noun

jail·​break -ˌbrāk 

: an escape from jail by use of force