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

Schoolsky, better known as Johnny Bagel in Los Angeles phone phreak circles, had been introduced to the hobby by L.A. phreak Al Diamond and his telephone joke lines.

From Salon • Feb. 16, 2013

Now, if you’re a phone phreak and want to scan for interesting numbers, what better place to dig through than Washington, D.C.?

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