reverse-engineer
reverse-engineer verb: to derive or duplicate the design, technical specifications, manufacturing methods, or functionality of an object by studying an existing product, prototype, etc.
Verb
reverse-engineer (third-person singular simple present reverse-engineers, present participle reverse-engineering, simple past and past participle reverse-engineered)
- To derive or duplicate the design, technical specifications, manufacturing methods, or functionality of an object by studying an existing product, prototype, etc.
- Each creature was viewed as the artifact of a divine blueprint. The role of the biologist was to reverse engineer God's handiwork.1997, Roy A. Sorensen, "The Metaphysics of Precision and Scientific Language," Noûs, vol. 31, Supplement: Philosophical Perspectives, 11, p. 363
- In theory, there should be no need to reverse-engineer a patented invention to get information about how to make it because the patent specification should inform the relevant technical community of how to make the invention.2002, P. Samuelson, S. Scotchmer, “The Law and Economics of Reverse Engineering”, in The Yale Law Journal, volume 111, number 7, page 1584
- Synonyms:
- hack
- To create or modify an implementation to better conform to a desired goal.
- Typically, you complete some design, some implementation, some testing, come up with some good ideas which you implement, and then reverse-engineer your implementation into an improved design.2003, Per Kroll, Philippe Kruchten, The Rational Unified Process Made Easy, →ISBN
- As a matter of preference, always prefer to reverse engineer a roof plan, even when one already exists, but both methods will be discussed here along with their benefits and drawbacks.2012, Brian L. Smith, 3ds Max Design Architectural Visualization, →ISBN
Noun
reverse-engineer (plural reverse-engineers)
- A person who reverse-engineers products.
- A reverse-engineer can in theory do a variety of things with the information she obtains.1998, M. Lemley, D. McGowan, “Legal Implications of Network Economic Effects”, in California Law Journal, volume 86, number 3, page 524
Synonyms of reverse-engineer
Forms of reverse-engineer
| Verb | |
|---|---|
| third-person singular present | reverse-engineers |
| present participle | reverse-engineering |
| past participle | reverse-engineered |
| past | reverse-engineered |
| alternative form | reverse engineer |
| Noun | |
| plural | reverse-engineers |
Origin of reverse-engineer
Back-formation from reverse engineering.
Questions about reverse-engineer
- What does reverse-engineer mean?
- Reverse-engineer means to derive or duplicate the design, technical specifications, manufacturing methods, or functionality of an object by studying an existing product, prototype, etc.
- What part of speech is reverse-engineer?
- Reverse-engineer can be a verb or a noun.
- What is the past tense of reverse-engineer?
- The past tense of reverse-engineer is reverse-engineered.
Words near reverse-engineer in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: reverse-engineer (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Cite this entry: “reverse-engineer.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/reverse-engineer. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.