reverse-engineer

Formsreverse-engineers, reverse-engineering, reverse-engineered

Pluralreverse-engineers

1. 1
   verbtransitive

   To work out or copy the design, specifications, or function of something by closely examining an existing product or prototype.

   Like a chef tasting a dish and figuring out the recipe just from the flavors.

   Security researchers reverse-engineer malware to understand how it infects computers.

   Hobbyists reverse-engineered the discontinued console to produce compatible replacement chips.

   Similardeconstruct

   Note

   The verb came second. It was back-formed from the noun reverse engineering, turning the name of a practice back into an action. Samuelson and Scotchmer, writing in 2002 on the law and economics of the practice, set it against the patent. A patent should disclose how an invention is made, so in principle nobody should need to reverse-engineer a patented invention.

2. 2
   verbtransitive

   To build or adapt an implementation so that it conforms more closely to a desired goal.

   Reality-show editors sometimes reverse-engineer an episode, keeping only the scenes that support the story they want to tell.

   The vendor reverse-engineered its data pipeline to comply with the new privacy standard.

   Note

   Here the work runs backward from a goal rather than from someone else's product, as in the original copy-the-design sense. Software teams reverse-engineer their own implementation into an improved design. An architect may reverse engineer a roof plan even when one already exists. Patrick Radden Keefe describes reality-TV editors made to "reverse engineer" an episode around a story. The verb appears both hyphenated and open, and figurative uses may still wear scare quotes.

3. 3
   nouncountable

   A person who studies existing products to work out their design, specifications, or methods of manufacture.

   Like a mechanic who can rebuild an engine just by examining one already assembled.

   A talented reverse-engineer mapped the firmware without any of the original documentation.

   The firm employs reverse-engineers who dismantle competitors' hardware to study its construction.

   Note

   Noun and verb share one spelling, so only the grammar around it tells a reverse-engineer from to reverse-engineer. Even reverse-engineers can be either a plural noun or a third-person verb. Lemley and McGowan use the noun in legal writing in 1998 for the person who draws information out of a product. It names the same activity as the copying verb, now given someone who does it.

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