v., hacked, hack·ing, hacks. v.tr.
- To cut or chop with repeated and irregular blows: hacked down the saplings.
- To break up the surface of (soil).
- Informal. To alter (a computer program): hacked her text editor to read HTML.
- To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization: hacked the firm's personnel database.
- Slang. To cut or mutilate as if by hacking: hacked millions off the budget.
- Slang. To cope with successfully; manage: couldn't hack a second job.
- To chop or cut something by hacking.
- Informal.
- To write or refine computer programs skillfully.
- To use one's skill in computer programming to gain illegal or unauthorized access to a file or network: hacked into the company's intranet.
- To cough roughly or harshly.
- A rough, irregular cut made by hacking.
- A tool, such as a hoe, used for hacking.
- A blow made by hacking.
- A rough, dry cough.
[Middle English hakken, from Old English -haccian. V., intr., sense 2, back-formation from HACKER1.]
hackable hack'a·ble adj.hack2 (hăk)
n.
- A horse used for riding or driving; a hackney.
- A worn-out horse for hire; a jade.
- One who undertakes unpleasant or distasteful tasks for money or reward; a hireling.
- A writer hired to produce routine or commercial writing.
- A carriage or hackney for hire.
- Informal.
- A taxicab.
- See hackie.
v., hacked, hack·ing, hacks. v.tr.
- To let out (a horse) for hire.
- To make banal or hackneyed with indiscriminate use.
- To drive a taxicab for a living.
- To work for hire as a writer.
- To ride on horseback at an ordinary pace.
- By, characteristic of, or designating routine or commercial writing: hack prose.
- Hackneyed; banal.
hack out Informal.
- To produce (written material, for example), especially hastily or routinely: hacked out a weekly column.
[Short for HACKNEY.]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition Copyright © 2007, 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Updated in 2009. Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
