exploit - Wiktionary, the free dictionary (original) (raw)

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

From Old French esploit (noun), esploitier (verb).

exploit (plural exploits)

  1. A heroic or extraordinary deed.
  2. An achievement.
    The first trek to the summit of Mount Everest was a stunning exploit.
  3. (computing) A program or technique that takes advantage of a vulnerability in other software.
    • 2004, Rob Shein, Zero-Day Exploit: Countdown to Darkness‎[1], Syngress, →ISBN, page xxi:
      One of the more publicized cases that involved a zero-day exploit concerned the compromise of some U.S. military web servers. The attack involved exploiting a buffer overflow vulnerability in a core Windows component; […]
    • 2015, Joxean Koret, Elias Bachaalany, The Antivirus Hacker's Handbook, page 148:
      For example, you can create PE files that are valid PDF exploits or valid ZIP files, valid JPG files, and so on.
  4. (by extension, Internet, video games) An action or technique that takes advantage of the conditions of a video game to gain an advantage, or to disadvantage others.

achievement

computing security

exploit (third-person singular simple present exploits, present participle exploiting, simple past and past participle exploited)

  1. (transitive) To use (something) to someone's advantage, such as one's own benefit or a society's benefit.
    Synonyms: take advantage of, use, utilize
    to exploit natural resources in a sustainable way
    • 2019 October, Tony Miles, Philip Sherratt, “EMR kicks off new era”, in Modern Railways, page 53:
      However, exploiting their 110mph capability will initially only be possible north of Bedford, pending an upgrade of the overhead wires between Bedford and St Pancras by Network Rail to make them suitable for use by electric trains at over 100mph.
    • 2026 January 13, Deepa Parent, William Christou, “Hundreds of gunshot eye injuries found in one Iranian hospital amid brutal crackdown on protests”, in The Guardian‎[2], →ISSN, archived from the original on 24 January 2026:
      The protests have alarmed authorities, and on Thursday night, they shut off internet and mobile access in the country, cutting the Iranian people off from the rest of the world. Rights groups have accused the government of exploiting the media blackout to carry out a brutal crackdown against protesters.
  2. (transitive) To make unfair use of someone else's labor, person, or property to one's own advantage.
    Coordinate terms: take advantage of, abuse, misuse
    Materialistic people who exploit others will come to a bad end.

use for one’s advantage

From Old French esploit (noun), esploitier (verb).

exploit n (plural exploiten, diminutive exploitje n)

  1. (law) a legal document which proves that another document has been handed over to a certain person

From English exploit.

exploit m (plural exploits, diminutive exploitje n)

  1. (computing) exploit

Deverbal from exploiter. Corresponds with Old French espleit; cf. Latin explicitus.

exploit m (plural exploits)

  1. exploit, feat
    Synonym: performance

Borrowed from French exploit.

exploit m (invariable)

  1. exploit, feat
    Synonyms: impresa, performance, prestazione

  2. ^ exploit in Luciano Canepari, Dizionario di Pronuncia Italiana (DiPI)

exploit m (plural exploits)

  1. use; usage

Unadapted borrowing from English exploit.

exploit m (plural exploits)

  1. (computer security) exploit (security vulnerability in a computer system)