jailbreak

American  

[jeyl-breyk] / ˈdʒeɪlˌbreɪk /

noun

jailbreaks plural

1. an escape from prison, especially by forcible means.

2. Digital Technology.

   1. an instance of gaining access to the operating system of a smartphone, tablet, etc., especially one manufactured by Apple.

   2. a software program or piece of hardware used to accomplish this.

      You'll need a jailbreak to run unauthorized apps.

   3. an instance of circumventing restrictions on access to any computer system or digital content.

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verb (used with object)

jailbroke, jailbroken, jailbreaking

1. Digital Technology. to gain access to the operating system of (a smartphone, tablet, etc., especially an Apple device), usually in order to run modified or unauthorized software.

verb (used without object)

jailbroke, jailbroken, jailbreaking

1. Digital Technology. to engage in this practice.

   Manufacturers are trying to prevent jailbreaking.

jailbreak British  

/ ˈdʒeɪlˌbreɪk /

noun

1. Also: gaolbreak.  an escape from jail

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• jailbreakability
  noun
• jailbreakable
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• jailbreaks
  plural

Etymology

Origin of jailbreak

An Americanism dating back to 1905–10; jail + break

Explanation

A jailbreak is a prison escape. Whenever someone who's incarcerated or locked up manages to get out illegally, that's a jailbreak. Prison security, from armed guards to razor wire, locks, and security cameras, means that jailbreaks don't happen often. These days it's more common to use this word to talk about computers or smartphones. When a hacker performs a jailbreak on one of these devices, she bypasses the manufacturer's restrictions so that even unauthorized software can be installed.

Example Sentences

"However, we disagree that the finding of a narrow potential jailbreak should be cause for recalling a commercial model deployed to hundreds of millions of people."

From BBC • Jul. 1, 2026

Anthropic says the jailbreak doesn’t provide users with cyber capabilities that are any more sophisticated than those of competing models like OpenAI’s.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 16, 2026

Researchers at Amazon.com Inc. had conducted jailbreak research that revealed some vulnerabilities in Anthropic’s model, according to a report in the Wall Street Journal.

From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 14, 2026

“We suspect that perfect jailbreak resistance is not currently possible for any model provider,” that blog post noted.

From MarketWatch • Jun. 13, 2026

Whenever we get a jailbreak, Paul, aka Thing Three, streaks around the gym with both arms up yelling “Blue Team! It’s what’s for breakfast!”

From "Liar & Spy" by Rebecca Stead