Definition of "reverse-engineering" [reverse-engineering]

• Present participle of reverse-engineer. (verb)

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• "A year and a half ago, scientists at the Blue Brain Project in Switzerland announced they had successfully created an extremely detailed — down to the molecular level — model of the neurocortical column of a two-week-old rat … and that was just Phase 1 of their ambitious research effort aimed at nothing less than reverse-engineering the mammalian brain and recreating it in a computer."
• "Q: Is something like genetic reverse-engineering theoretically possible?"
• "Furthermore, the Chinese, the unchallenged world champions in technology espionage and reverse-engineering, have not created anything new, but simply stolen German technology to build their high-speed rail lines."