Etymology : Middle English hakken, from Old English -haccian; akin to Old High German hacchOn to hack, Old English hOc hook
Pronunciation : 'hak
Function : verb
Date : 13th century
1. illegal access into another party's computer or Internet site carried out for malevolent or fraudulent purposes or to make unauthorised amendments or just for fun (Computers); chopping hit done with the edge of the hand in massage. hacking x for y.
2. 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.
3. Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying.
4. To cut irregulary, without skill or definite purpose; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument; as, to hack a post.
5. Fig.: To mangle in speaking.
6. To cough faintly and frequently, or in a short, broken manner; as, a hacking cough.
7. A notch; a cut.
8. An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone.
9. A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough.
10. A kick on the shins.
11. 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.
12. A coach or carriage let for hire; particularly, a coach with two seats inside facing each other; a hackney coach.
13. A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge.
14. A procuress.
15. Hackneyed; hired; mercenary.
16. To use as a hack; to let out for hire.
17. To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace.
18. To be exposed or offered to common use for hire; to turn prostitute.
19. To live the life of a drudge or hack.
20. To ride or drive as one does with a hack horse; to ride at an ordinary pace, or over the roads, as distinguished from riding across country or in military fashion.
21. To kick the shins of.
22. A kick on the shins, or a cut from a kick. a saddle horse used for transportation rather than sport etc. a horse kept for hire an old or over-worked horse a tool used for hacking the soil one who works hard at boring tasks a mediocre and disdained writer cough spasmodically; "The patient with emphysema is hacking all day" significantly cut up a manuscript fix a computer program piecemeal until it works; "I'm not very good at hacking but I'll give it my best" kick on the arms cut away; "he hacked with way through the forest" informal: be able to manage or manage successfully; "I can't hack it anymore"; "she could not cut the long days in the office".
23. A hacking cough is a dry, painful cough with a harsh, unpleasant sound. see also:
hack.