EXPLOIT

IPA (US):

 Dictionary entry overview: What does exploit mean? 

• EXPLOIT (noun)
  The noun EXPLOIT has 1 sense:

1. a notable achievement

  Familiarity information: EXPLOIT used as a noun is very rare.

• EXPLOIT (verb)
  The verb EXPLOIT has 3 senses:

1. use or manipulate to one's advantage

2. draw from; make good use of

3. work excessively hard

  Familiarity information: EXPLOIT used as a verb is uncommon.

 Dictionary entry details 

• EXPLOIT (noun)

Sense 1

Meaning:

A notable achievement

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Synonyms:

effort; exploit; feat

Context example:

the book was her finest effort

Hypernyms ("exploit" is a kind of...):

accomplishment; achievement (the action of accomplishing something)

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "exploit"):

hit ((baseball) a successful stroke in an athletic contest (especially in baseball))

rally; rallying (the feat of mustering strength for a renewed effort)

stunt (a difficult or unusual or dangerous feat; usually done to gain attention)

tour de force (a masterly or brilliant feat)

derring-do (brave and heroic feats)

• EXPLOIT (verb)

Present simple: I / you / we / they exploit ... he / she / it exploits
Past simple: exploited   
Past participle: exploited   
-ing form: exploiting   

Sense 1

Meaning:

Use or manipulate to one's advantage

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

exploit; work

Context example:

he works his parents for sympathy

Hypernyms (to "exploit" is one way to...):

apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

Verb group:

work (provoke or excite)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "exploit"):

use (seek or achieve an end by using to one's advantage)

feed; prey (profit from in an exploitatory manner)

avail; help (take or use)

play (use to one's advantage)

make hay (turn to one's advantage)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

exploitation (an act that exploits or victimizes someone (treats them unfairly))

exploitation (the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful)

exploitative; exploitatory (tending to exploit or make use of)

exploiter (a person who uses something or someone selfishly or unethically)

exploitive (tending to exploit or make use of)

Sense 2

Meaning:

Draw from; make good use of

Classified under:

Verbs of eating and drinking

Synonyms:

exploit; tap

Context example:

we must exploit the resources we are given wisely

Hypernyms (to "exploit" is one way to...):

apply; employ; use; utilise; utilize (put into service; make work or employ for a particular purpose or for its inherent or natural purpose)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "exploit"):

maximise; maximize (make the most of)

harness (exploit the power of)

mine (get from the earth by excavation)

quarry (extract (something such as stones) from or as if from a quarry)

overexploit (exploit excessively)

commercialize (exploit for maximal profit, usually by sacrificing quality)

milk (exploit as much as possible)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

exploitation (the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful)

Sense 3

Meaning:

Work excessively hard

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Synonyms:

exploit; overwork

Context example:

he is exploiting the students

Hypernyms (to "exploit" is one way to...):

put to work; work (cause to work)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "exploit"):

overdrive (drive or work too hard)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Derivation:

exploitation (the act of making some area of land or water more profitable or productive or useful)

exploitative; exploitatory; exploitive (tending to exploit or make use of)

 Context examples 

The researchers suggest that the strategy could be exploited to manipulate microbial communities.

(Bacteria Can 'Divide and Conquer' to Vanquish Their Enemies, The Titi Tudorancea Bulletin)

Robinson and his colleagues exploited a similarity between exoplanet transits and sunsets witnessed by the Cassini spacecraft at Titan.

(Sunsets on Titan reveal the complexity of hazy exoplanets, NASA)

By exploiting the benign chemistry of plant tissue scaffolds, researchers wrote, we could address the many limitations and high costs of synthetic, complex composite materials.

(Human Heart Cells Grown on Spinach Leaves, VOA News)

It was not a dangerous exploit for he could always pretend that he had simply looked in to ask a question.

(The Return of Sherlock Holmes, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Their studies also uncovered a previously unrecognized vulnerability in the cancer cells that scientists may be able to exploit to develop new strategies against the cancer and related diseases.

(Scientists find promising drug combination against lethal childhood brain cancers, National Institutes of Health)

Nonlinear optical effects can be exploited in a variety of applications, including laser technology, material processing and telecommunications.

(Graphene paves the way to faster high-speed communications, University of Cambridge)

These nanoscale devices have desirable optical and thermal properties that can be exploited for novel cancer therapeutics.

(Nanobomb, NCI Thesaurus)

The exploits of the Red Chief, as they called him, had become legends among them, but the real facts, as far as I could learn them, were amazing enough.

(The Lost World, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

Both were famous warriors, but as their exploits had been performed in widely sundered countries, they had never before been able to cross lances.

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

A type of spectroscopy that measures power spectral density of surface morphology by exploiting the tendency of light to disperse into a range of directions as a result of physical interaction.

(Light-Scattering Spectroscopy, NCI Thesaurus/CDISC)