reverse engineer
verb
reverse engineered; reverse engineering; reverse engineers
transitive verb
: 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
Example Sentences
They reverse engineered the software.
Recent Examples on the Web Stroud and Day are likely breaking it down, too, to reverse engineer the solution. 
Nathan Baird, cleveland, 7 Sep. 2022 Knowing how the stars in these disparate regions move today can help researchers reverse engineer the emergence of our galaxy’s distinctive spiral shape, as well as understand how such structures may arise in other galaxies. Sasha Warren, Scientific American, 22 June 2022 Leadership should then reverse engineer the milestones, metrics and behaviors needed to achieve the vision of the organization. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 30 June 2022 Other than selling a product or service, consider the overall customer journey experience and reverse engineer a program. Adam Povlitz, Forbes, 7 July 2022 That means someone could potentially reverse engineer the underlying data, the researchers found. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 5 July 2022 One job ad the indictment points to calls for someone who is an experienced reverse engineer and knows the coding language C++. Matt Burgess, Wired, 1 Feb. 2022 The effort involves an attempt to reverse engineer the vaccine from bits of publicly available information. Siladitya Ray, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021 Further, the team managed to reverse engineer whole Bloch wave functions from those same polarization measurements. Karmela Padavic-callaghan, Scientific American, 8 Dec. 2021 See More
Nathan Baird, cleveland, 7 Sep. 2022 Knowing how the stars in these disparate regions move today can help researchers reverse engineer the emergence of our galaxy’s distinctive spiral shape, as well as understand how such structures may arise in other galaxies. Sasha Warren, Scientific American, 22 June 2022 Leadership should then reverse engineer the milestones, metrics and behaviors needed to achieve the vision of the organization. Expert Panel®, Forbes, 30 June 2022 Other than selling a product or service, consider the overall customer journey experience and reverse engineer a program. Adam Povlitz, Forbes, 7 July 2022 That means someone could potentially reverse engineer the underlying data, the researchers found. Jeremy Kahn, Fortune, 5 July 2022 One job ad the indictment points to calls for someone who is an experienced reverse engineer and knows the coding language C++. Matt Burgess, Wired, 1 Feb. 2022 The effort involves an attempt to reverse engineer the vaccine from bits of publicly available information. Siladitya Ray, Forbes, 26 Oct. 2021 Further, the team managed to reverse engineer whole Bloch wave functions from those same polarization measurements. Karmela Padavic-callaghan, Scientific American, 8 Dec. 2021 See More Word History
First Known Use
1973, in the meaning defined above