Jailbreak means to unlock the operating system of a mobile phone or other device so that it can run software which it is not normally authorized to use because of restrictions imposed by the device's manufacturer.

越狱（jailbreak）指对手机或其他移动设备的操作系统进行解锁，这样就可以在这些设备上运行一些生产商限制使用的软件。

If someone jailbreaks a smartphone, tablet (computer) or other device, they use a special piece of software in order to remove the restrictions imposed by the manufacturer on the kind of applications that can be downloaded and run on the device. The concept of jailbreaking is most often associated with products from Apple Inc., such as the iPhone, iPod and iPad, which routinely restrict the user to applications licensed exclusively by Apple and purchased via its App Store. As well as wanting to lift the restriction on what kinds of applications they can purchase, those who jailbreak often do so as a reaction against what they perceive as a form of censorship imposed by Apple Inc. in only allowing the use of their 'approved' apps.

如果某人的智能手机、平板电脑或其他设备“越狱”了，那就说明他用一款特殊软件解除了生产商对该设备事先安装的锁定程序，该程序一般对移动设备可下载和运行的应用程序有严格限制。“越狱”这个说法多与苹果公司的iPhone、iPod以及iPad等产品有关，因为苹果产品都要求用户只能从苹果的专属商店下载和购买应用程序。采取“越狱”行为的用户除了想要解除对应用程序的限制以外，还想要反抗苹果公司通过应用程序限制对移动设备形成的监控机制。

The concept of jailbreaking dates back to July 2007, when it was applied to the iPhone within a month of the device's first release. This first occurrence related to the adding of custom ringtones, but the idea quickly developed as a means to augment the phone with games and other applications not licensed by Apple Inc.

“越狱”这种说法最早出现于2007年7月，第一代iPhone上市的第一个月。最初的越狱只是为了添加个性铃音，后来这一做法迅速被普及，成为破解苹果手机程序、安装各类未授权游戏和应用程序的主要手段。