exploit

exploit
    n 1: a notable achievement; "he performed a great feat"; "the
         book was her finest effort" [syn: {feat}, {effort},
         {exploit}]
    v 1: use or manipulate to one's advantage; "He exploit the new
         taxation system"; "She knows how to work the system"; "he
         works his parents for sympathy" [syn: {exploit}, {work}]
    2: draw from; make good use of; "we must exploit the resources
       we are given wisely" [syn: {exploit}, {tap}]
    3: work excessively hard; "he is exploiting the students" [syn:
       {overwork}, {exploit}]
    

Exploit \Ex*ploit"\, n. [OE. esploit success, OF. esploit,
   espleit,revenue, product, vigor, force, exploit, F. exploit
   exploit, fr. L. explicitum, prop. p. p. neut. of explicare to
   unfold, display, exhibit; ex + plicare to fold. See {Ply},
   and cf. {Explicit}, {Explicate}.]
   1. A deed or act; especially, a heroic act; a deed of renown;
      an adventurous or noble achievement; as, the exploits of
      Alexander the Great.
      [1913 Webster]

            Ripe for exploits and mighty enterprises. --Shak.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. Combat; war. [Obs.]
      [1913 Webster]

            He made haste to exploit some warlike service.
                                                  --Holland.
      [1913 Webster]

   2. [F. exploiter.] To utilize; to make available; to get the
      value or usefulness out of; as, to exploit a mine or
      agricultural lands; to exploit public opinion. [Recent]
      [1913 Webster]

   3. Hence: To draw an illegitimate profit from; to speculate
      on; to put upon. [Recent]
      [1913 Webster]

            In no sense whatever does a man who accumulates a
            fortune by legitimate industry exploit his
            employ['e]s or make his capital "out of" anybody
            else.                                 --W. G.
                                                  Sumner.
      [1913 Webster]
    

exploit
 n.

   [originally cracker slang]

   1. A vulnerability in software that can be used for breaking security
   or otherwise attacking an Internet host over the network. The {Ping O'
   Death} is a famous exploit.

   2. More grammatically, a program that exploits an exploit in sense 1.
    

exploit

   <security> A security hole or an instance of taking advantage
   of a security hole.

   "[...] {hackers} say exploit. {sysadmins} say hole"
   -- Mike Emke (http://emke.com/).

   Emke reports that the stress is on the second syllable.  If
   this is true, this may be a case of hackerly zero-deriving
   verbs (especially instantials) from nouns, akin to "write" as
   a noun to describe an instance of a disk drive writing to a
   disk.

   (2001-11-24)
    

111 Moby Thesaurus words for "exploit":
      abuse, accomplished fact, accomplishment, achievement, act, acta,
      action, adventure, apply, aristeia, attainment, beguile,
      benefit from, bestow, bleed, bleed white, blow, bold stroke,
      capitalize on, cash in on, clip, coup, cultivate, dealings, deed,
      do, doing, doings, drain, effort, employ, emprise, endeavor,
      enterprise, exercise, fait accompli, feat, finesse, fleece, gest,
      go, gouge, hand, handiwork, handle, heroic act, hold up, ill-use,
      impose, impose upon, improve, improve the occasion, job, jockey,
      make capital of, make hay, make use of, maneuver, manipulate,
      measure, milk, misuse, move, operation, overcharge, overprice,
      overt act, overtax, passage, performance, play, play on,
      presume upon, proceeding, production, profit by, profiteer,
      put to advantage, res gestae, screw, skin, soak, step, stick,
      sting, stroke, stunt, suck dry, surcharge, swindle,
      take advantage of, thing, thing done, tour de force, trade on,
      transaction, turn, turn to account, turn to profit, turn to use,
      undertaking, use, use ill, use to advantage, utilize, venture,
      victimize, work, work on, work upon, works