Word: hack Part of Speech: verb 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”). Related to hatch. 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). Pronunciation: /hæk/ 1. To chop or cut down in a rough manner. Labels: transitive Example: They hacked the brush down and made their way through the jungle. Example: 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. 2. To withstand or put up with a difficult situation. Example: Can you hack it out here with no electricity or running water? Example: 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. 3. 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. Example: I hacked in a fix for this bug, but we'll still have to do a real fix later. 4. To accomplish a difficult programming task. Example: He can hack like no one else and make the program work as expected. Example: 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. 5. To work with something on an intimately technical level. Labels: slang, transitive Example: I'm currently hacking distributed garbage collection. 6. To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novel method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease. Labels: broadly, colloquial, transitive Example: I read up on dating tips so I can hack my sex life. 7. To hack into; to gain unauthorized access to (a computer system, e.g., a website, or network) by manipulating code. Labels: slang, transitive 8. To gain unauthorized access to a computer or online account belonging to (a person or organisation). Labels: broadly, slang, transitive Example: When I logged in to the social network, I discovered I'd been hacked. 9. To cheat by using unauthorized modifications. Labels: intransitive Example: That player must be hacking, they got so many kills last game. 10. To strike an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc. Example: He's going to the penalty box after hacking the defender in front of the goal. Example: Jensen gets a 5 minute major penalty for hacking Orsov in the back. 11. To make a flailing attempt to hit the puck with a hockey stick. Example: There's a scramble in front of the net as the forwards are hacking at the bouncing puck. 12. To swing at a pitched ball. Example: He went to the batter's box hacking. 13. To kick (a player) on the shins. Example: 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. 14. To strike in a frantic movement. Example: 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. 15. To strike lightly as part of tapotement massage. Labels: transitive Example: […] laterally from and then towards the spine, and continued downwards from the shoulders until the whole back has been hacked.