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

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.

China has treated the war in Ukraine as an opportunity to gain operational and technological insights, reverse engineer U.S. weapons recovered from the battlefield, and find ways to circumvent Western economic sanctions. —

Kori Schake, Foreign Affairs, 8 Nov. 2024 Chris reverse engineers the sizing of his concentric circles each week. —

Ed Flores, Forbes, 1 Nov. 2024 Then the same program reverse engineers that process to create a new picture, minus the noise. —

John Werner, Forbes, 20 Oct. 2024 Instagram might roll out a way to share comments on other Instagram posts to Threads, according to Alessandro Paluzzi, who often reverse engineers Meta’s social media apps to find coming features. —

Wes Davis, The Verge, 15 Sep. 2024 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

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 15 Dec. 2024.

Copy Citation