phreak
verbEtymology Blend of phone + freak.
- Derived terms
- phreaker
phreak
noun/fɹiːk/
Etymology Blend of phone + freak.
- Phreaks can max-out 911 systems just by siccing a bunch of computer-modems on them in tandem, dialling them over and over until they clog.1992, Bruce Sterling, The Hacker Crackdown […] , Bantam Books, →ISBN:
- Joybubbles (the legal name of the former Joe Engressia since 1991), a blind genius with perfect pitch who accidentally found he could make free phone calls by whistling tones and went on to play a pivotal role in the 1970s subculture of “phone phreaks,” died on Aug. 8 in Minneapolis.2007 August 20, Douglas Martin, “Joybubbles, 58, Peter Pan of Phone Hackers, Dies”, in The New York Times, archived from the original on 12 Feb 2022: