ex·ploit

(ĕk′sploit′, ĭk-sploit′)

1. An act or deed, especially a brilliant or heroic one. See Synonyms at feat¹.

2. Computers A program or system designed to take advantage of a particular error or security vulnerability in computers or networks.

tr.v. (ĭk-sploit′, ĕk′sploit′) ex·ploit·ed, ex·ploit·ing, ex·ploits

1. To employ to the greatest possible advantage: exploit one's talents.

2. To make use of selfishly or unethically: a corporation that exploited peasant labor.

[Middle English, from Old French esploit, from Latin explicitum, neuter past participle of explicāre, to unfold; see explicate.]

ex·ploit′a·bil′i·ty n.

ex·ploit′a·ble adj.

ex·ploit′a·tive, ex·ploit′ive adj.

ex·ploit′a·tive·ly, ex·ploit′ive·ly adv.

ex·ploit′er n.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Adj.	1.	exploited - developed or used to greatest advantage unexploited, undeveloped - undeveloped or unused; "vast unexploited (or undeveloped) natural resources"; "taxes on undeveloped lots are low"
	2.	exploited - of persons; taken advantage of; "after going out of his way to help his friend get the job he felt not appreciated but used" ill-used, put-upon, victimised, victimized, used misused - used incorrectly or carelessly or for an improper purpose; "misused words are often laughable but one weeps for misused talents"

Mentioned in

References in classic literature

For thus speaketh justice unto ME: 'Men are not equal.'" He sees precisely in this inequality a purpose to be served, a condition to be exploited. "Every elevation of the type 'man,'" he writes in "Beyond Good and Evil", "has hitherto been the work of an aristocratic society--and so will it always be--a society believing in a long scale of gradations of rank and differences of worth among human beings."

View in context

At the end of July, Project Zero revealed six zero-interaction security bugs that could be exploited through iMessage, only five of which Apple had managed to patch by the time the Google team revealed them.

Google reveals some malicious websites have been 'quietly' hacking into iPhones

Summary: California [USA], June 22 (ANI): Mozilla has released another update to fix a second zero-day vulnerability in its Firefox browser that was being exploited in the wild.

Mozilla releases patch to fix another zero-day in Firefox

It was exploited by an unidentified criminal group in an attempt to gain full control over a targeted device.

Kaspersky Lab Uncovers Critical Vulnerability in Windows OS Exploited by an Unknown Criminal Group

Summary: Kaspersky Lab technologies have automatically detected a new exploited vulnerability in the Microsoft Windows OS kernel, the third consecutive zero-day exploit to be discovered in three months.

Kaspersky Lab uncovers new Windows zero-day exploit

Dr Mahathir had last week said Malaysia had a lot of coal resources in Sabah and Sarawak, which could be exploited to generate power.

Don't be bullied into accepting deals to exploit coal reserves, Sarawak govt told

The interfaces for these devices are also being exploited as modified web browsers to expand the vulnerabilities and exploit vectors on them.

Report: No firm is immune to the evolving attack trends of cyber criminals

The tools are now actively being exploited "in the wild" by cyber criminals.

Cyber Weapons In The Wild

If exploited, the vulnerability allows attackers to upgrade any Windows user level account to an administrator account, giving them access to install malicious software, gain access to other machines, change user settings and an array of other potentially damaging acts.

Zero-Day offered for $90K; potentially targeting 1.5 billion Windows users