phone phreak

American  

[fohn--freek] / ˈfoʊn ˌfrik /

noun

Slang.

1. a person who uses computers or other electronic devices to place long-distance telephone calls without paying toll charges.

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Etymology

Origin of phone phreak

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Everyone is his own cognitive hacker, his own potential phone phreak.

From New York Times • Sep. 21, 2017

For example, phone phreak Mark Bernay — who had had nothing to do with the Santa Barbara prank, it should be pointed out — was fond of jamming incoming directory assistance calls.

From Salon • Feb. 16, 2013

Of course, Wozniak wasn’t the only phone phreak with a love of pranks.

From Salon • Feb. 16, 2013

The disgruntled-inventor phone phreak needs the phone system the way the lapsed Catholic needs the Church, the way Satan needs a God, the way The Midnight Skulker needed, more than anything else, response.

From Slate • Oct. 7, 2011

“The captain” was Cap’n Crunch, and “the whistle” was the famous toy plastic whistle of phone phreak lore.

From "Ready Player One: A Novel" by Ernest Cline