Definition of "hack"

hack¹

/hæk/

verb
third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked
1. (transitive) To chop or cut down in a rough manner.
  Quotations
  Among other things he found a sharp hunting knife, on the keen blade of which he immediately proceeded to cut his finger. Undaunted he continued his experiments, finding that he could hack and hew splinters of wood from the table and chairs with this new toy.
  1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co.; republished as chapter 6, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A. L. Burt Company, 1914 June,
2. (intransitive) To cough noisily.
3. To withstand or put up with a difficult situation.
  Quotations
  New Yorkers have been fleeing for months. But the fear some residents have of the violent reactions to the protests here is adding a new challenge to those asking themselves whether they can hack the city. Many are deciding not to return.
  2020 June 5, Alyson Krueger, “The Agonizing Question: Is New York City Worth It Anymore?”, in New York Times‎
4. (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.
5. (computing) To accomplish a difficult programming task.
  Quotations
  The police said that officers belonging to the Cyber Security and Technology Crime unit searched an office in the Wong Chuk Hang neighborhood on Friday afternoon on the suspicion that computers at the institute had been hacked, leading to a leak of personal information.
  2020 July 10, Tiffany May, Austin Ramzy, “Hong Kong Police Raid Pollster on Eve of Pro-Democracy Camp Primary”, in The New York Times‎, archived from the original on 2020-07-10‎
6. (computing, slang, transitive) To work with something on an intimately technical level.
7. (transitive, colloquial, by extension) To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease.
8. (transitive, slang, computing) To hack into; to gain unauthorized access to (a computer system, e.g., a website, or network) by manipulating code.
9. (transitive, slang, computing, by extension) To gain unauthorised access to a computer or online account belonging to (a person or organisation).
10. (intransitive, video games) To cheat by using unauthorized modifications.
11. (ice hockey) To strike an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc.
12. (ice hockey) To make a flailing attempt to hit the puck with a hockey stick.
13. (baseball) To swing at a pitched ball.
14. (soccer and rugby) To kick (a player) on the shins.
  Quotations
  Barcelona had been harried and hurried and stretched thin by the midway point in the second half. Tackles flew in. Toes were crushed, shins barked, ankles hacked.
  8 May 2019, Barney Ronay, “Liverpool’s waves of red fury and recklessness end in joyous bedlam”, in The Guardian‎
15. To strike in a frantic movement.
  Quotations
  Centre-back Branislav Ivanovic then took a wild slash at the ball but his captain John Terry saved Chelsea's skin by hacking the ball clear for a corner with Kevin Davies set to strike from just six yards out.
  2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC‎
16. (transitive) To strike lightly as part of tapotement massage.
  Quotations
  […] laterally from and then towards the spine, and continued downwards from the shoulders until the whole back has been hacked.
  1915, Louisa L. Despard, Handbook of Massage for Beginners, page 14
noun
countable and uncountable, plural hacks
1. A tool for chopping.
2. A hacking blow.
3. A gouge or notch made by such a blow.
  Quotations
  Look you what hacks are on his helmet !
  c. 1602, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Troylus and Cressida”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, [Act I, scene ii]
4. A dry cough.
5. A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough.
  Quotations
  he speaks to this very question: which he does with so many hacks and hesitations
  1660, H[enry] More, An Explanation of the Grand Mystery of Godliness; […], London: […] J[ames] Flesher, for W[illiam] Morden […]
6. (figuratively) A try, an attempt.
7. (curling) The foothold traditionally cut into the ice from which the person who throws the rock pushes off for delivery.
8. (obsolete) A mattock or a miner's pickaxe.
9. (informal) An improvised device or solution to a problem.
10. (computing, slang) 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; a workaround.
11. (computing, slang) A computer programmer who makes quick but inelegant changes to computer code to solve problems or add features.
12. (computing, slang) A computer programmer, particularly a veteran or someone not immediately expected to be capable of programming.
13. (computing, slang) An interesting technical achievement, particularly in computer programming.
14. (colloquial) A trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to increase productivity, efficiency, or ease.
  Quotations
  Woebot was full of tasks and tricks — little mental health hacks — which at first made me roll my eyes. One day Woebot asked me to press an ice cube to my forehead, to feel the sensation as a way of better connecting with my body.
  2022 September 27, Barclay Bram, “My Therapist, the Robot”, in The New York Times‎
15. (computing, slang) An illegal attempt to gain access to a computer network.
16. (computing, slang) A video game or any computer software that has been altered from its original state.
  Quotations
  […] found out a discarded sex mini-game in the code, and made it available again in the modified PC version of the game that they nicknamed “Hot Coffee.” This hack of the game created a controversy, since the inclusion of sexual content would change its age rating, […]
  2014, Clara Fernández-Vara, Introduction to Game Analysis, page 165
17. (slang, military) Time check, as for example upon synchronization of wristwatches.
18. (ice hockey) The act of striking an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc.
19. (baseball) A swing of the bat at a pitched ball by the batter, particularly a choppy, ungraceful one that misses the ball such as at a fastball.
20. A kick on the shins in football of any type.
  Quotations
  “Ain't there just fine scrummages then! and the three trees you see there which come out into the play, that's a tremendous place when the ball hangs there, for you get thrown against the trees, and that's worse than any hack.”
  1857, Thomas Hughes, Tom Brown's School Days
  Liverpool left-back Robertson had been excellent but was sent off for a reckless hack on Emerson Royal, a decision given after Paul Tierney reviewed the decision on the pitch-side monitor.
  2021 December 19, Alex Bysouth, “Tottenham Hotpsur 2 - 2 Liverpool”, in BBC Sport‎
21. (uncountable, slang, naval) Confinement of an officer to their stateroom as a punishment.
  Quotations
  You've been busted, you lost your qualifications as section leader three times, put in hack twice by me, with a history of high speed passes over five air control towers, and one admiral's daughter!
  1986, Jim Cash, Jack Epps Jr., Top Gun (motion picture), spoken by Stinger (James Tolkan)
  “Lieutenant Cauthen, you've got ten seconds to explain yourself before I put you in hack!”
  2013, David Cauthen, When Destiny Comes to a Fork in the Road, page 426
22. (military, slang) An airplane of poor quality or in poor condition.
  Quotations
  Henebry's planes returned to Japan to reload, and early in the morning brought almost 3,000 more troopers to Korea […] Before sunrise next day, all troops in the maneuver had been picked up again and airlifted in “Henebry Hacks” back to Japan.
  1952, Air Reservist, page 6
  […] so that he had to make the 300-mile journey in a “hack” plane which had spluttering engines, which did not conduce to an easy mind nor to a comfortable journey; […]
  1967, Christian Advocate, volume 47, page 292

hack²

/hæk/

noun
plural hacks
1. (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.
2. A food-rack for cattle.
3. A rack used to dry something, such as bricks, fish, or cheese.
4. A grating in a mill race.
verb
third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked
1. To lay (bricks) on a rack to dry.
2. (falconry) To keep (young hawks) in a state of partial freedom, before they are trained.

hack³

/hæk/

noun
plural hacks
1. A horse for hire, especially one which is old and tired.
  Quotations
  A cold wind, a piercing rain, and a bad road, with a worse hack (for his own horses had been knocked up), rendered more acute the misery which he, as a parted lover, was bound to feel.
  1837, L[etitia] E[lizabeth] L[andon], “Arrived at Home”, in Ethel Churchill: Or, The Two Brides. […], volume I, London: Henry Colburn, […], page 84
2. A person, often a journalist, hired to do routine work.
  Quotations
  [W]e know how the life of any hack, legal or literary, in a curacy, or in a marching regiment, or at a merchant’s desk, is dull of routine, and tedious of description.
  1848 November – 1850 December, William Makepeace Thackeray, chapter 37, in The History of Pendennis. […], volumes (please specify |volume=I or II), London: Bradbury and Evans, […], published 1849–1850
3. (derogatory) Someone who is available for hire; hireling, mercenary.
4. (slang) A taxicab (hackney cab) driver.
5. (now chiefly Canada, US, colloquial) A vehicle let for hire; originally, a hackney coach, now typically a taxicab.
  Quotations
  On horse, on foot, in hacks and gilded chariots.
  1728, [Alexander Pope], “(please specify the page)”, in The Dunciad. An Heroic Poem. […], Dublin, London: […] A. Dodd
  The interurban wasn't running because of the holiday, and the hacks, if there were any, would have been clustered round the Post Tavern at the other end of town.
  1993, TC Boyle, The Road to Wellville, Penguin, published 1994, page 227
6. A hearse.
  Quotations
  Bring out the rubber-tired buggie/Bring out the rubber-tired hack/I'm takin' my Johnny to the graveyard/But I ain't gonna bring him back
  1920s, Jimmie Rodgers, Frankie and Johnny
7. (derogatory, authorship) An untalented writer.
8. (derogatory) One who is professionally successful despite producing mediocre work. (Usually applied to persons in a creative field.)
9. (derogatory) A talented writer-for-hire, paid to put others' thoughts into felicitous language.
10. (politics, slightly derogatory) A political agitator.
11. (UK, student politics, derogatory) A person who frequently canvasses for votes, either directly or by appearing to continuously act with the ulterior motive of furthering their political career.
12. (obsolete) A writer who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge.
  Quotations
  Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed, / Who long was a bookseller's hack.
  1767, Oliver Goldsmith, Epitaph on Edward Purdon
13. (obsolete) A procuress.
verb
third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked
1. (dated) To make common or cliched; to vulgarise.
2. (equestrianism) To ride a horse at a regular pace; to ride on a road (as opposed to riding cross-country etc.).
3. (obsolete) To live the life of a drudge or hack.
  Quotations
  Poor madam , now condemn'd to hack The rest of life with anxious Jack
  1765, Oliver Goldsmith, The Double Transformation
4. To use as a hack; to let out for hire.
5. To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace.
  Quotations
  The word "remarkable" has been so hacked of late.
  1865, John Henry Newman, An Internal Argument for Christianity
6. To drive a hackney cab.
  Quotations
  When I was hacking in Brooklyn, I used to run him over to the Court Street restaurants, where he'd sit in Nick and Tony's Pizzeria […]
  2004, Joseph Trigoboff, The Shooting Gallery, page 238

hack⁴

/hæk/

noun
plural hacks
1. A small ball usually made of woven cotton or suede and filled with rice, sand or some other filler, for use in hackeysack.
verb
third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past and past participle hacked
1. To play hackeysack.

Definition of "hack"

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hack2

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hack¹

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hack⁴