reverse-engineer

[ri-vurs-en-juh-neer]

verb (used with object)

1. to study or analyze (a device, as a microchip for computers) in order to learn details of design, construction, and operation, perhaps to produce a copy or an improved version.

Other Word Forms

• reverse engineering noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of reverse-engineer¹

First recorded in 1955–60

Example Sentences

We can’t reverse-engineer and modify these things.

Read more on Slate

"I think if we could reverse-engineer the naked mole-rat's biology," said Prof Balmus, "we might bring some much-needed therapies for an ageing society."

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So instead, Gemma Galdon and her colleagues decided to reverse-engineer VioGén and do an external audit.

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That applied not only to pilots’ reports of objects that seemed to have displayed unusual aeronautical behavior, but a farrago of reports in the press, online, and among committed UFO believers about purportedly secret government programs to collect, examine and even attempt to reverse-engineer technology supposedly retrieved from crashed extraterrestrial UAPs.

Read more on Los Angeles Times

He was known for his exhaustive attention to tiny details, digging for subtle bits of evidence — fossilized fleas, swatches of clothing, even the residue from 3,000-year-old beer, which Mr. Kemp helped reverse-engineer, then brew, in 1996.

Read more on New York Times