Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • intransitive verb To manipulate a telephone system illicitly to allow one to make calls without paying for them.

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun technology A person who engages in phone phreaking.
  • verb transitive, intransitive To engage in phone phreaking.

Etymologies

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition

[Alteration of freak (influenced by phone).]

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

A combination of phone and freak.

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Examples

  • A phone phreak is someone who loves exploring the telephone system and experimenting with it to understand how it works.

    Boing Boing 2008

  • Recently I have been working on a piece that examines some of the aesthetics similarities between phrakers, underground hackers, and trollers and it sort of hit me that I had no idea when the term "phreak" or "freak" came into being.

    Planet Debian Biella 2010

  • Recently I have been working on a piece that examines some of the aesthetics similarities between phrakers, underground hackers, and trollers and it sort of hit me that I had no idea when the term "phreak" or "freak" came into being.

    Planet Debian Biella 2010

  • Recently I have been working on a piece that examines some of the aesthetics similarities between phrakers, underground hackers, and trollers and it sort of hit me that I had no idea when the term "phreak" or "freak" came into being.

    Planet Debian Biella 2010

  • Recently I have been working on a piece that examines some of the aesthetics similarities between phrakers, underground hackers, and trollers and it sort of hit me that I had no idea when the term "phreak" or "freak" came into being.

    Planet Debian Biella 2010

  • "Spell 'phreak' with a ph and you're talking about somebody who steals phone services.

    Forgetfulness ISCARS 2010

  • But from his days as a phone phreak, breaking into Pac Bell himself,

    Forgetfulness ISCARS 2010

  • Instead, he was seduced by the funky phreak culture.

    Wired Top Stories 2009

  • Instead, he was seduced by the funky phreak culture.

    Wired Top Stories 2009

  • Yeah not so sure about an animated character there has to be another way to make stats interesting. phillies phreak m-m-m-m-m-maz headroom!

    Key Character to Be Animated in Soderbergh’s Moneyball | /Film 2009

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