hack
Noun · VerbWordNet 3.0
Noun (8)
- one who works hard at boring tasksSynonyms: drudgehacker
- a politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public endsSynonyms: machine politicianward-heelerpolitical hack
- a mediocre and disdained writerSynonyms: hack writerliterary hack
- a tool (as a hoe or pick or mattock) used for breaking up the surface of the soil
- a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for moneySynonyms: cabtaxitaxicab
- an old or over-worked horseSynonyms: jadenagplug
- a horse kept for hire
- a saddle horse used for transportation rather than sport etc.
Verb (8)
- cut with a hacking toolSynonyms: chop
- be able to manage or manage successfully“I can't hack it anymore”“she could not cut the long days in the office”Synonyms: cut
- cut away“he hacked his way through the forest”
- kick on the arms
- kick on the shins
- fix a computer program piecemeal until it works“I'm not very good at hacking but I'll give it my best”Synonyms: hack on
- significantly cut up a manuscriptSynonyms: cut up
- cough spasmodically“The patient with emphysema is hacking all day”Synonyms: whoop
Webster's Dictionary (GCIDE)
1.A notch; a cut. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
2.An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone. [1913 Webster]
3.A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough. --Dr. H. More. [1913 Webster]
4.(Football) A kick on the shins, or a cut from a kick. --T. Hughes. [1913 Webster]
5.(Computers) A clever computer program or routine within a program to accomplish an objective in a non-obvious fashion. [PJC]
6.(Computers) A quick and inelegant, though functional solution to a programming problem. [PJC]
7.A taxicab. [informal] [PJC]
Hack saw, a handsaw having a narrow blade stretched in an iron frame, for cutting metal. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
2.Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying. [1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
My sword hacked like a handsaw.— Shak.[1913 Webster]
2.Fig.: To mangle in speaking. --Shak. [1913 Webster]
3.(Computers) To program (a computer) for pleasure or compulsively; especially, to try to defeat the security systems and gain unauthorized access to a computer. [PJC]
4.To bear, physically or emotionally; as, he left the job because he couldn't hack the pressure. [Colloq.] [PJC]
Hack writer, a hack; one who writes for hire. "A vulgar hack writer." --Macaulay. [1913 Webster]
1.To use as a hack; to let out for hire. [1913 Webster]
2.To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace. [1913 Webster]
The word "remarkable" has been so hacked of late.— J. H. Newman.[1913 Webster]
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. [1913 Webster]
2.A coach or carriage let for hire; a hackney coach; formerly, a coach with two seats inside facing each other; now, usually a taxicab. [1913 Webster +PJC]
On horse, on foot, in hacks and gilded chariots.— Pope.[1913 Webster]
3.Hence: The driver of a hack; a taxi driver; a hackman. [PJC]
3.A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge. [1913 Webster]
Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed, Who long was a bookseller's hack.— Goldsmith.[1913 Webster]
4.A procuress. [1913 Webster]
1.To be exposed or offered to common use for hire; to turn prostitute. --Hanmer. [1913 Webster]
2.To live the life of a drudge or hack. --Goldsmith. [1913 Webster]
Note: Taxicabs may be engaged by a prior appointment made, e.g. by telephone, or they may cruise for passengers, i.e. they may drive in city streets and stop to pick up pasengers when they are signalled by a prospective passenger. The act of signalling a taxicab (usually by a wave of the arm) is often called
to flag down a cab. [PJC]
1.The bolt or latch of a door. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
2.A rack for cattle to feed at. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
3.A door, especially one partly of latticework; -- called also heck door. [Prov. Eng.] --Halliwell. [1913 Webster]
4.A latticework contrivance for catching fish. [1913 Webster]
5.(Weaving) An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine. [1913 Webster]
6.A bend or winding of a stream. [Prov. Eng.] [1913 Webster]
Half heck, the lower half of a door.
Heck board, the loose board at the bottom or back of a cart.
Heck box or Heck frame, that which carries the heck in warping. [1913 Webster]
Free On-line Dictionary of Computing
<jargon> 1. Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed, but not well.
2.An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed.
3.To bear emotionally or physically. "I can't hack this heat!"
4.To work on something (typically a program). In an immediate sense: "What are you doing?" "I'm hacking TECO." In a general (time-extended) sense: "What do you do around here?" "I hack TECO." More generally, "I hack "foo"" is roughly equivalent to ""foo" is my major interest (or project)". "I hack solid-state physics." See Hacking X for Y.
5.To pull a prank on. See hacker.
6.To interact with a computer in a playful and exploratory rather than goal-directed way. "Whatcha up to?" "Oh, just hacking."
7.Short for hacker.
8.See nethack.
9.(MIT) To explore the basements, roof ledges, and steam tunnels of a large, institutional building, to the dismay of Physical Plant workers and (since this is usually performed at educational institutions) the Campus Police. This activity has been found to be eerily similar to playing adventure games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Zork. See also vadding.
See also neat hack, real hack. [Jargon File]
(1996-08-26)
The Jargon File
1.n. Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed, but not well.
2.n. An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that produces exactly what is needed.
3.vt. To bear emotionally or physically. “I can't hack this heat!”
4.vt. To work on something (typically a program). In an immediate sense: “ What are you doing?” “I'm hacking TECO.” In a general (time-extended) sense: “What do you do around here?” “I hack TECO.” More generally, “I hack foo” is roughly equivalent to “foo is my major interest (or project)”. “I hack solid-state physics.” See Hacking X for Y.
5.vt. To pull a prank on. See sense 2 and hacker (sense 5).
6.vi. To interact with a computer in a playful and exploratory rather than goal-directed way. “Whatcha up to?” “Oh, just hacking.”
7.n. Short for hacker.
8.See nethack.
9.[MIT] v. To explore the basements, roof ledges, and steam tunnels of a large, institutional building, to the dismay of Physical Plant workers and (since this is usually performed at educational institutions) the Campus Police. This activity has been found to be eerily similar to playing adventure games such as Dungeons and Dragons and Zork. See also vadding .
Constructions on this term abound. They include happy hacking (a farewell), how's hacking? (a friendly greeting among hackers) and hack, hack (a fairly content-free but friendly comment, often used as a temporary farewell). For more on this totipotent term see The Meaning of Hack. See also neat hack, real hack.