knapsack problem: Meaning and Definition of

knap'sack prob"lem

Pronunciation: [key]
— Math. Math.
  1. the problem of determining which numbers from a given collection of numbers have been added together to yield a specific sum: used in cryptography to encipher (and sometimes decipher) messages.
Random House Unabridged Dictionary, Copyright © 1997, by Random House, Inc., on Infoplease.