phreaker

noun

phreak·​er ˈfrē-kər 

: one who gains illegal access to the telephone system

phreaking

ˈfrē-kiŋ 

noun

Did you know?

Phreakers are people who specialize in attacks on the telephone system. The word, which became popular in the mid-1980s, is probably a combination of the words phone and freak. (Phreakers are also known as "phreaks" or "phone phreaks.") In the early days, phreakers whistled or used an instrument to mimic the tones the phone system then used to route calls and identify payment, especially as a way to avoid paying for an expensive call. Modern phreaking involves breaking into and manipulating the phone company's computer system, making it a specialized kind of hacking.

Examples of phreaker in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

In fact, the friends’ first business venture together was marketing blue boxes to aspiring phreakers. —Laura Yan, Popular Mechanics, 22 Oct. 2019

Word History

Etymology

short for phone phreaker, from phone phreak (as a verb) + -er entry 2 — more at phreak

Note: The collocation phone phreaker occurs in the Esquire article cited in the note at phreak.

First Known Use

1984, in the meaning defined above

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