Trojan horse Definition & Meaning - Merriam-Webster

That night, the armed Greeks swarmed out and captured and burned the city. A Trojan horse is thus anything that looks innocent but, once accepted, has power to ... Login SignUp Hello, Games&Quizzes Thesaurus WordoftheDay Features BuyingGuide M-WBooks JoinMWU MyWordsMyWords ViewRecents Account LogOut Trojanhorse noun SaveWord DefinitionofTrojanhorse 1 :someoneorsomethingintendedtodefeatorsubvertfromwithinusuallybydeceptivemeans 2 :aseeminglyusefulcomputerprogramthatcontainsconcealedinstructionswhichwhenactivatedperformanillicitormaliciousaction(suchasdestroyingdatafiles) also :theconcealedinstructionsofsuchaprogram—comparevirussense3 Didyouknow? ExampleSentences LearnMoreAboutTrojanhorse Didyouknow? AfterbesiegingthewallsofTroyfortenyears,theGreeksbuiltahuge,hollowwoodenhorse,secretlyfilleditwitharmedwarriors,andpresentedittotheTrojansasagiftforthegoddessAthena,andtheTrojanstookthehorseinsidethecity'swalls.Thatnight,thearmedGreeksswarmedoutandcapturedandburnedthecity.ATrojanhorseisthusanythingthatlooksinnocentbut,onceaccepted,haspowertoharmordestroy—forexample,acomputerprogramthatseemshelpfulbutendsupcorruptingordemolishingthecomputer'ssoftware. ExamplesofTrojanhorseinaSentence TheymaybeusingtheothercorporationasaTrojanhorse. FirstKnownUseofTrojanhorse 1837,inthemeaningdefinedatsense1 HistoryandEtymologyforTrojanhorse fromthelargehollowwoodenhorsefilledwithGreeksoldiersandintroducedwithinthewallsofTroybyastratagem LearnMoreAboutTrojanhorse ShareTrojanhorse PosttheDefinitionofTrojanhorsetoFacebook SharetheDefinitionofTrojanhorseonTwitter TimeTravelerforTrojanhorse ThefirstknownuseofTrojanhorsewas in1837 Seemorewordsfromthesameyear DictionaryEntriesNearTrojanhorse Trojangroup Trojanhorse TrojanWar SeeMoreNearbyEntries  StatisticsforTrojanhorse Look-upPopularity CitethisEntry “Trojanhorse.”Merriam-Webster.comDictionary,Merriam-Webster,https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/Trojan%20horse.Accessed3Apr.2022. Style:MLA MLA Chicago APA Merriam-Webster MorefromMerriam-WebsteronTrojanhorse Thesaurus:AllsynonymsandantonymsforTrojanhorse Nglish:TranslationofTrojanhorseforSpanishSpeakers WORDOFTHEDAY exculpate SeeDefinitionsandExamples» GetWordoftheDaydailyemail! TestYourVocabulary GreatWordsforScrabble WhichofthefollowingQ-without-Uwordsmeansthenumberfiveincardsordice? kamotiq qigong tranq cinq Testyourvisualvocabularywithour10-questionchallenge! TAKETHEQUIZ Adailychallengeforcrosswordfanatics. TAKETHEQUIZ SubscribetoAmerica'slargestdictionaryandgetthousandsmoredefinitionsandadvancedsearch—adfree! Merriam-Websterunabridged WordsatPlay AprilFools'Day:WeDon'tKnowItsOrigin ButbewaryonApril1anyway. GreatBigListofWordsYouLovetoHate Allyourfavoritepetpeeves EggcornsandOtherSlipsoftheTongue Let'sniptheseinthebud ObscureWords Westrivetobringyoutherarestwordspossible AsktheEditors EndingaSentencewithaPreposition Anold-fashionedrulewecannolongerputupwith. WordsoftheYear:1066 EnglishwasneverthesameaftertheNormanConquest HowtoRemember'Affect'and'Effect' Asimplewaytokeepthemapart.(Mostofthetime.) OurDictionaryThroughTime Webster'slegendaryeditionsfrom1828throughtoday WordGames WhichWordDoesNotBelong? Foreachsetofwords,canyoutellwhichoneis... Takethequiz NameThatFood Canyoutellyourmacaroonsfromyourmacarons? Takethequiz SpellIt 10quickquestions:hearthem,spellthem Takethequiz ChallengingVocabularyQuizReturns! Notricks,justhardwordsyoumightencounterin... Takethequiz