HACK

hack

(noun) a saddle horse used for transportation rather than sport etc.

hack

(noun) a horse kept for hire

hack, jade, nag, plug

(noun) an old or over-worked horse

cab, hack, taxi, taxicab

(noun) a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money

hack

(noun) a tool (as a hoe or pick or mattock) used for breaking up the surface of the soil

hack, drudge, hacker

(noun) one who works hard at boring tasks

hack, hack writer, literary hack

(noun) a mediocre and disdained writer

hack, whoop

(verb) cough spasmodically; “The patient with emphysema is hacking all day”

hack, cut up

(verb) significantly cut up a manuscript

hack, hack on

(verb) fix a computer program piecemeal until it works; “I’m not very good at hacking but I’ll give it my best”

hack

(verb) kick on the shins

hack

(verb) kick on the arms

chop, hack

(verb) cut with a hacking tool

hack

(verb) cut away; “he hacked his way through the forest”

hack, cut

(verb) be able to manage or manage successfully; “I can’t hack it anymore”; “she could not cut the long days in the office”

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology 1

Verb

hack (third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked)

(transitive) To chop or cut down in a rough manner. [circa 12th c.]

(intransitive) To cough noisily. [19th c.]

To withstand or put up with a difficult situation. [20th c.]

(computing) To make a quick code change to patch a computer program, often one that, while being effective, is inelegant or makes the program harder to maintain.

Synonyms: frob, tweak

(computing) To accomplish a difficult programming task.

(computing, slang, transitive) To work with something on an intimately technical level.

(transitive, colloquial, by extension) To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease.

(transitive, slang, computing) To hack into; to gain unauthorized access to (a computer system, e.g, a website, or network) by manipulating code.

Synonym: crack

(transitive, slang, computing, by extension) To gain unauthorised access to a computer or online account belonging to (a person or organisation).

(ice hockey) To strike an opponent's leg with one's hockey stick.

(ice hockey) To make a flailing attempt to hit the puck with a hockey stick.

(baseball) To swing at a pitched ball.

(soccer and rugby) To kick (a player) on the shins.

To strike in a frantic movement.

(transitive) To strike lightly as part of tapotement massage.

Noun

hack (plural hacks)

A tool for chopping. [14th c.]

A hacking blow. [19th c.]

A gouge or notch made by such a blow.

A dry cough.

A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough.

(figuratively) A try, an attempt. [19th c.]

(curling) The foothold traditionally cut into the ice from which the person who throws the rock pushes off for delivery.

(obsolete) A mattock or a miner's pickaxe.

(computing) An expedient, temporary solution, such as a small patch or change to code, meant to be replaced with a more elegant solution at a later date.

(computing) An interesting technical achievement, particularly in computer programming.

(colloquial) A trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to increase productivity, efficiency or ease.

(computing, slang) An illegal attempt to gain access to a computer network.

(computing, slang) A video game or any computer software that has been altered from its original state.

(slang, military) Time check.

(baseball) A swing of the bat at a pitched ball by the batter.

A kick on the shins in football.

(slang, naval) Confinement of an officer to their stateroom as a punishment.

Synonyms

• (access attempt): crack

• (expedient, temporary solution): band-aid, contrivance, improvision, improvisation, kludge, makeshift, quick fix, patch

• (trick to increase productivity or efficiency): lifehack

Etymology 2

Noun

hack (plural hacks)

(falconry) A board which the falcon's food is placed on; used by extension for the state of partial freedom in which they are kept before being trained.

A food-rack for cattle.

A rack used to dry something, such as bricks, fish, or cheese.

A grating in a mill race.

Verb

hack (third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked)

To lay (bricks) on a rack to dry.

(falconry) To keep (young hawks) in a state of partial freedom, before they are trained.

Etymology 3

Noun

hack (plural hacks)

A horse for hire, especially one which is old and tired. [from 16th c.]

A person, often a journalist, hired to do routine work. [from 17th c.]

(pejorative) Someone who is available for hire; hireling, mercenary.

(slang) A taxicab (hackney cab) driver.

(now, chiefly, North America, colloquial) A vehicle let for hire; originally, a hackney coach, now typically a taxicab. [from 17th c.]

A hearse.

(pejorative, authorship) An untalented writer.

(pejorative) One who is professionally successful despite producing mediocre work. (Usually applied to persons in a creative field.)

(pejorative) A talented writer-for-hire, paid to put others' thoughts into felicitous language.

(politics) A political agitator. (slightly derogatory)

(obsolete) A writer who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge.

(obsolete) A procuress.

Synonyms

• (A saddle horse which is old and tired): nag

Coordinate terms

• (worthless horse): bum

Verb

hack (third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked)

(dated) To make common or cliched; to vulgarise.

To ride a horse at a regular pace; to ride on a road (as opposed to riding cross-country etc.).

(obsolete) To be exposed or offered or to common use for hire; to turn prostitute.

(obsolete) To live the life of a drudge or hack.

To use as a hack; to let out for hire.

To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace.

Etymology 4

Noun

hack (plural hacks)

A small ball usually made of woven cotton or suede and filled with rice, sand or some other filler, for use in hackeysack.

Verb

hack (third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked)

To play hackeysack.

Source: Wiktionary


Hack, n. Etym: [See Hatch a half door.]

1. A frame or grating of various kinds; as, a frame for drying bricks, fish, or cheese; a rack for feeding cattle; a grating in a mill race, etc.

2. Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying.

Hack, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hacked; p. pr. & vb. n. Hacking.] Etym: [OE. hakken; akin to D. hakken, G. hacken, Dan. hakke, Sw. hacka, and perh. to E. hew. Cf. Hew to cut, Haggle.]

1. To cut irregulary, without skill or definite purpose; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument; as, to hack a post. My sword hacked like a handsaw. Shak.

2. Fig.: To mangle in speaking. Shak.

Hack, v. i.

Definition: To cough faintly and frequently, or in a short, broken manner; as, a hacking cough.

Hack, n.

1. A notch; a cut. Shak.

2. An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone.

3. A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough. Dr. H. More.

4. (Football)

Definition: A kick on the shins. T. Hughes. Hack saw, a handsaw having a narrow blade stretched in an iron frame, for cutting metal.

Hack, n. Etym: [Shortened fr. hackney. See Hackney.]

1. A horse, hackneyed or let out for common hire; also, a horse used in all kinds of work, or a saddle horse, as distinguished from hunting and carriage horses.

2. A coach or carriage let for hire; particularly, a a coach with two seats inside facing each other; a hackney coach. On horse, on foot, in hacks and gilded chariots. Pope.

3. A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge. Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed, Who long was a bookseller's hack. Goldsmith.

4. A procuress.

Hack, a.

Definition: Hackneyed; hired; mercenary. Wakefield. Hack writer, a hack; one who writes for hire. "A vulgar hack writer." Macaulay.

Hack, v. t.

1. To use as a hack; to let out for hire.

2. To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace. The word "remarkable" has been so hacked of late. J. H. Newman.

Hack, v. i.

1. To be exposed or offered or to common use for hire; to turn prostitute. Hanmer.

2. To live the life of a drudge or hack. Goldsmith.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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