1. past tense of phreak; to gain unauthorized access to or manipulate telephone systems, especially to make free long-distance calls
Usage: slang; informal; dated; originally associated with 1970s–1980s computer hobbyists

Examples

• In the 1980s, some teenagers phreaked telephone networks to avoid paying for calls.
• He phreaked the system by using a blue box to generate the correct tones.
• The documentary described how early hackers phreaked their way into the telephone infrastructure.
• She phreaked the PBX system at her company to understand its vulnerabilities.
• They phreaked several networks before being caught by authorities.