hack
Language: English
Part of speech: verb
Pronunciation: ipa: /hæk/
rhymes: -æk
Forms: form: hacks
form: hacking
form: hacked
form: hacked
Etymology: From Middle English hacken, hakken, from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop; hoe; hew”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“to be sharp; peg; hook; handle”).
Cognate with Saterland Frisian häkje (“to hack”), West Frisian hakje (“to hack”), Dutch hakken (“to chop up; hack”), German hacken (“to chop; hack; hoe”), Danish hakke (“to chop”), Swedish hacka (“to hack; chop”), French hacher (“to chop”).
The computer senses date back to at least 1955 when it initially referred to creative problem solving. By 1963, the negative connotations of “black hat” or malicious hacking had become associated with telephone hacking (cf. phreaking).
Senses: examples: text: They hacked the brush down and made their way through the jungle.
text: 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.
ref: 1912 October, Edgar Rice Burroughs, “Tarzan of the Apes”, in The All-Story, New York, N.Y.: Frank A. Munsey Co., →OCLC; republished as chapter 6, in Tarzan of the Apes, New York, N.Y.: A[lbert] L[evi] Burt Company, June 1914, →OCLC:
text: The ruthless practices of the Ontario Film Censor Board are by now the laughing stock of most of the world. Scenes that contain more flesh or affection than they find savoury are simply hacked out of the film before it is released.
ref: 1981 February 14, Alexander Wilson, “The New Right Attacks Childhood Sexuality: A Canadian Perspective”, in Gay Community News, volume 8, number 29, page 6:
glosses: To chop or cut down in a rough manner.
examples: text: Can you hack it out here with no electricity or running water?
text: 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.
ref: 2020 June 5, Alyson Krueger, “The Agonizing Question: Is New York City Worth It Anymore?”, in New York Times:
glosses: To withstand or put up with a difficult situation.
examples: text: I hacked in a fix for this bug, but we'll still have to do a real fix later.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
synonyms: frob
tweak
kludge
bodge
glosses: 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.
examples: text: He can hack like no one else and make the program work as expected.
text: 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.
ref: 2020 July 10, Tiffany May, Austin Ramzy, “Hong Kong Police Raid Pollster on Eve of Pro-Democracy Camp Primary”, in The New York Times, →ISSN, →OCLC, archived from the original on 10 Jul 2020:
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To accomplish a difficult programming task.
examples: text: I'm currently hacking distributed garbage collection.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To work with something on an intimately technical level.
examples: text: I read up on dating tips so I can hack my sex life.
glosses: To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novel method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
synonyms: crack
glosses: To hack into; to gain unauthorized access to (a computer system, e.g., a website, or network) by manipulating code.
examples: text: When I logged in to the social network, I discovered I'd been hacked.
topics: computing
engineering
mathematics
natural-sciences
physical-sciences
sciences
glosses: To gain unauthorized access to a computer or online account belonging to (a person or organisation).
examples: text: That player must be hacking, they got so many kills last game.
topics: video-games
glosses: To cheat by using unauthorized modifications.
examples: text: He's going to the penalty box after hacking the defender in front of the goal.
text: Jensen gets a 5 minute major penalty for hacking Orsov in the back.
topics: hobbies
ice-hockey
lifestyle
skating
sports
glosses: To strike an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc.
examples: text: There's a scramble in front of the net as the forwards are hacking at the bouncing puck.
topics: hobbies
ice-hockey
lifestyle
skating
sports
glosses: To make a flailing attempt to hit the puck with a hockey stick.
examples: text: He went to the batter's box hacking.
topics: ball-games
baseball
games
hobbies
lifestyle
sports
glosses: To swing at a pitched ball.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 8 May 2019, Barney Ronay, “Liverpool’s waves of red fury and recklessness end in joyous bedlam”, in The Guardian:
topics: ball-games
games
hobbies
lifestyle
rugby
soccer
sports
glosses: To kick (a player) on the shins.
examples: text: 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.
ref: 2010 December 29, Chris Whyatt, “Chelsea 1 - 0 Bolton”, in BBC:
glosses: To strike in a frantic movement.
examples: text: […] laterally from and then towards the spine, and continued downwards from the shoulders until the whole back has been hacked.
ref: 1915, Louisa L. Despard, Handbook of Massage for Beginners, page 14:
glosses: To strike lightly as part of tapotement massage.
Derived terms: apahack
hackability
hackable
hackaround
hack around
hackathon
hack away
hackbot
hackday
hack down
hackee
hacker
hackery
hackfest
hackfolk
Hackgate
hack in
hacking
hackingly
hacky
hack into
hack it
hack off
hacksaw
hack up
hackusation
hackuser
haggle
outhack
p-hack
unhacked
wallhack