exploit

noun

1. A heroic or extraordinary deed.

   “Hieronimo, it greatly pleaſeth vs, / That in our victorie thou haue a ſhare, / By vertue of thy vvorthy Sonnes exployt.”

2. An achievement.

   “The first trek to the summit of Mount Everest was a stunning exploit.”

3. A program or technique that takes advantage of a vulnerability in other software.

   “One of the more publicized cases that involved a zero-day exploit concerned the compromise of some U.S. military web servers. The attack involved exploiting a buffer overflow vulnerability in a core Windows component; […]”

   “For example, you can create PE files that are valid PDF exploits or valid ZIP files, valid JPG files, and so on.”

4. (Internet, broadly)An action or technique that takes advantage of the conditions of a video game to gain an advantage, or to disadvantage others.

verb

1. (transitive)To use (something) to someone's advantage, such as one's own benefit or a society's benefit.

   “to exploit natural resources in a sustainable way”

   “However, exploiting their 110mph capability will initially only be possible north of Bedford, pending an upgrade of the overhead wires between Bedford and St Pancras by Network Rail to make them suitable for use by electric trains at over 100mph.”

   “The protests have alarmed authorities, and on Thursday night, they shut off internet and mobile access in the country, cutting the Iranian people off from the rest of the world. Rights groups have accused the government of exploiting the media blackout to carry out a brutal crackdown against protesters.”

2. (transitive)To make unfair use of someone else's labor, person, or property to one's own advantage.

   “Materialistic people who exploit others will come to a bad end.”