exploit

1 of 2

noun

ex·​ploit ˈek-ˌsplȯit How to pronounce exploit (audio) ik-ˈsplȯit How to pronounce exploit (audio)
plural exploits
Synonyms of exploitnext
: deed, act
especially : a notable, memorable, or heroic act
a daring exploit
a book about his youthful exploits
I took out the list of Professor Challenger's exploits, and I read it over under the electric lamp. — Arthur Conan Doyle
About midnight the gang returned, with various articles of plunder, and talked over their exploits … — Sir Walter Scott
It used to be rare for C.I.A. employees to recount their exploits, or grievances, in print. — Alex Berenson

exploit

2 of 2

verb

ex·​ploit ik-ˈsplȯit How to pronounce exploit (audio) ˈek-ˌsplȯit How to pronounce exploit (audio)
exploited; exploiting; exploits

transitive verb

1
: to make productive use of : utilize
exploiting your talents
exploit your opponent's weakness
2
: to make use of meanly or unfairly for one's own advantage
exploiting migrant farm workers
exploitability
ik-ˌsploi-tə-ˈbi-lə-tē How to pronounce exploit (audio)
noun
exploitable
ik-ˈsplȯi-tə-bəl How to pronounce exploit (audio)
adjective
exploiter noun

Synonyms

Noun

Verb

See All Synonyms & Antonyms in Thesaurus
Choose the Right Synonym for exploit

feat, exploit, achievement mean a remarkable deed.

feat implies strength or dexterity or daring.

an acrobatic feat

exploit suggests an adventurous or heroic act.

his exploits as a spy

achievement implies hard-won success in the face of difficulty or opposition.

her achievements as a chemist

Examples of exploit in a Sentence

Noun the fanciful exploits of the giant lumberjack Paul Bunyan once famed as an actor, John Wilkes Booth is now remembered for a single exploit, his assassination of Lincoln Verb He has never fully exploited his talents. Top athletes are able to exploit their opponents' weaknesses. She said the tragedy had been exploited by the media.
Recent Examples on the Web
Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Noun
But now, with a wealth of law-breaking footage to their name, the seven-member posse has not only their lives to show for it, but also a feature-length Michael Bay movie to commemorate their exploits. — Peter Debruge, Variety, 9 Mar. 2025 Evasive attacks require continuous visibility and advanced security capabilities across all seven layers of your network to prevent known and unknown threats such as vulnerability exploits, ransomware, malware, phishing and data theft. — Anand Oswal, Forbes, 24 Feb. 2025
Verb
Apple’s Surprise iPhone Update Fixes 1 Bug, Adds 1 Frustration By avoiding the heavy lifting of real institutional reform, DEI initiatives have inadvertently fueled opposition, enabling right-wing politicians to exploit these missteps to justify rolling back civil rights protections. — Aparna Rae, Forbes, 12 Mar. 2025 The authors provided examples of SLAPPs filed in response to advocacy on many issues, including civil rights, environmental preservation, consumer protection and women’s rights. SLAPP suits often exploit power and financial imbalances. — Jennifer Safstrom, The Conversation, 11 Mar. 2025 See All Example Sentences for exploit

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English espleit, expleit, esploit, exploit "furtherance, favorable outcome, outcome (good or bad), undertaking, military expedition, deed of arms," borrowed from Anglo-French espleit, esploit, exploit "carrying out, execution, achievement, course, success, gain," probably noun derivative of espleiter, esploiter "to carry out, achieve, expedite" — more at exploit entry 2

Verb

Middle English espleiten, expleiten, expleten, esploiten "to facilitate, expedite (a journey), fulfill (a need), execute, complete, relate, explain," borrowed from Anglo-French espleiter, esploiter, exploiter "to carry out, achieve, promote, expedite, make use of, use unfairly, progress, succeed, act," probably going back to Vulgar Latin *explicitāre, repetitive derivative of Latin explicāre "to free from folds or creases, unroll, disentangle, spread out, bring into play, exercise" — more at explicate

Note: The Middle English form expleten suggests association with Latin explēre "to fill up, carry to completion, accomplish" (compare expletive entry 2). Latinizing variants with ex- have completely replaced earlier es- in both English and French. Earlier standard etymological dictionaries of French (Französisches etymologisches Wörterbuch, Bloch and Wartburg's Dictionnaire étymologique de la langue française) see the noun as the more basic form, going back to *explicitum, allegedly formed from the neuter of the Latin past participle explicitus (see explicit)—though the sense of the noun is active, not passive. Romance outcomes of *explicitāre are mainly restricted to Gallo-Romance (as Old Occitan esplechar "to make use of, execute, accomplish") and Catalan (esplet "harvest," espletar "to harvest"). Note that *explicitāre preserves only the figurative meaning "bring into play, exercise" of the root word explicāre, out of which French and English have elaborated further meanings. The sense "relate, explain" of the Middle English verb is not paralleled in French and did not survive into Modern English.

First Known Use

Noun

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1838, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Time Traveler
The first known use of exploit was in the 15th century

Rhymes for exploit

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Browse Nearby Words

exploit
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Cite this Entry

“Exploit.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/exploit. Accessed 21 Mar. 2025.

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Kids Definition

exploit

2 of 2 verb
ex·​ploit ik-ˈsplȯit How to pronounce exploit (audio) ˈek-ˌsplȯit How to pronounce exploit (audio)
1
: to get value or use from
exploit your talents
exploit an opponent's weaknesses
2
: to make use of unfairly for one's own advantage
exploiting migrant farm workers
exploitable
-ə-bəl How to pronounce exploit (audio)
adjective
exploitation
ˌek-ˌsplȯi-ˈtā-shən
noun
exploiter
ik-ˈsplȯit-ər
ˈek-ˌsplȯit-
noun

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