hack
Part of speech: verb
noun
intj
Morphological type: simple
Topics: ball-games
baseball
computing
curling
engineering
games
government
hobbies
ice-hockey
lifestyle
mathematics
military
natural-sciences
naval
navy
physical-sciences
politics
rugby
sciences
skating
soccer
sports
video-games
war
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).
Inflected forms:
form: hacks
pos: verb
tags: present
singular
third-person
form: hacking
pos: verb
tags: participle
present
form: hacked
pos: verb
tags: participle
past
form: hacked
pos: verb
tags: past
form: hacks
pos: noun
tags: plural
Senses:
gloss: To chop or cut down in a rough manner.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: They hacked the brush down and made their way through the jungle.
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.
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.
gloss: To withstand or put up with a difficult situation.
pos: verb
examples: Can you hack it out here with no electricity or running water?
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.
gloss: 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.
pos: verb
examples: I hacked in a fix for this bug, but we'll still have to do a real fix later.
gloss: To accomplish a difficult programming task.
pos: verb
examples: He can hack like no one else and make the program work as expected.
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.
gloss: To work with something on an intimately technical level.
pos: verb
tags: slang
transitive
examples: I'm currently hacking distributed garbage collection.
gloss: To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novel method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease.
pos: verb
tags: broadly
colloquial
transitive
examples: I read up on dating tips so I can hack my sex life.
gloss: To hack into; to gain unauthorized access to (a computer system, e.g., a website, or network) by manipulating code.
pos: verb
tags: slang
transitive
gloss: To gain unauthorized access to a computer or online account belonging to (a person or organisation).
pos: verb
tags: broadly
slang
transitive
examples: When I logged in to the social network, I discovered I'd been hacked.
gloss: To cheat by using unauthorized modifications.
pos: verb
tags: intransitive
examples: That player must be hacking, they got so many kills last game.
gloss: To strike an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc.
pos: verb
examples: He's going to the penalty box after hacking the defender in front of the goal.
Jensen gets a 5 minute major penalty for hacking Orsov in the back.
gloss: To make a flailing attempt to hit the puck with a hockey stick.
pos: verb
examples: There's a scramble in front of the net as the forwards are hacking at the bouncing puck.
gloss: To swing at a pitched ball.
pos: verb
examples: He went to the batter's box hacking.
gloss: To kick (a player) on the shins.
pos: verb
examples: 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.
gloss: To strike in a frantic movement.
pos: verb
examples: 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.
gloss: To strike lightly as part of tapotement massage.
pos: verb
tags: transitive
examples: […] laterally from and then towards the spine, and continued downwards from the shoulders until the whole back has been hacked.
gloss: A tool for chopping.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A hacking blow.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A gouge or notch made by such a blow.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Look you what hacks are on his helmet !
gloss: A try, an attempt.
pos: noun
tags: countable
figuratively
uncountable
gloss: The foothold traditionally cut into the ice from which the person who throws the rock pushes off for delivery.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: A mattock or a miner's pickaxe.
pos: noun
tags: countable
obsolete
uncountable
gloss: An improvised device or solution to a problem.
pos: noun
tags: countable
informal
uncountable
examples: Luckily for us J company picked us up in their hack — two snowmobiles with a big inflatable raft strapped between them.
gloss: An expedient, temporary solution, such as a small patch or change to code, meant to be replaced with a more elegant solution at a later date; a workaround.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: Valleysoft released a hack yesterday to fix the "crashes when more than 50 recipients" bug for people who need it right away. The company says its next release will also solve this as well as add new features.
gloss: A computer programmer who makes quick but inelegant changes to computer code to solve problems or add features.
pos: noun
tags: countable
dated
slang
uncountable
examples: Tsang is great but Zhou is such a hack — I wouldn't want him on my project.
gloss: A computer programmer, particularly a veteran or someone not immediately expected to be capable of programming.
pos: noun
tags: countable
dated
slang
uncountable
examples: Terry wrote that module? I didn't know she was a hack too!
gloss: An interesting technical achievement, particularly in computer programming.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: Flugensoft came out with a neat hack last week that allows your watch to warm up your car if it's below freezing outside.
gloss: A trick, shortcut, skill, or novel method to increase productivity, efficiency, or ease.
pos: noun
tags: colloquial
countable
uncountable
examples: Putting your phone in a sandwich bag when you go to the beach is such a great hack.
Woebot was full of tasks and tricks — little mental health hacks — which at first made me roll my eyes. One day Woebot asked me to press an ice cube to my forehead, to feel the sensation as a way of better connecting with my body.
gloss: The illegal accessing of a computer network.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
gloss: A video game or any computer software that has been altered from its original state.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: […] found out a discarded sex mini-game in the code, and made it available again in the modified PC version of the game that they nicknamed “Hot Coffee.” This hack of the game created a controversy, since the inclusion of sexual content would change its age rating, […]
gloss: A practical joke that showcases cleverness and creativity.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
gloss: Time check, as for example upon synchronization of wristwatches.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
gloss: The act of striking an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Zersky is still down after that nasty hack by Lenner.
gloss: A swing of the bat at a pitched ball by the batter, particularly a choppy, ungraceful one that misses the ball such as at a fastball.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: And Melnick goes down with one last hack at an O'Malley fastball.
gloss: A kick on the shins in football of any type.
pos: noun
tags: countable
uncountable
examples: Wales are awarded a free kick after a minor hack by Järvinen on Llewellyn.
“Ain't there just fine scrummages then! and the three trees you see there which come out into the play, that's a tremendous place when the ball hangs there, for you get thrown against the trees, and that's worse than any hack.”
Liverpool left-back Robertson had been excellent but was sent off for a reckless hack on Emerson Royal, a decision given after Paul Tierney reviewed the decision on the pitch-side monitor.
gloss: Confinement of an officer to their stateroom as a punishment.
pos: noun
tags: slang
uncountable
examples: You've been busted, you lost your qualifications as section leader three times, put in hack twice by me, with a history of high speed passes over five air control towers, and one admiral's daughter!
“Lieutenant Cauthen, you've got ten seconds to explain yourself before I put you in hack!”
gloss: An airplane of poor quality or in poor condition.
pos: noun
tags: countable
slang
uncountable
examples: Henebry's planes returned to Japan to reload, and early in the morning brought almost 3,000 more troopers to Korea […] Before sunrise next day, all troops in the maneuver had been picked up again and airlifted in “Henebry Hacks” back to Japan.
[…] so that he had to make the 300-mile journey in a “hack” plane which had spluttering engines, which did not conduce to an easy mind nor to a comfortable journey; […]
gloss: An onomatopoeia for coughing.
pos: intj
examples: Haaaack... Oooooooog... A-CHOO! That was terrible.. I gotta get in shape...
Derived words: apahack
hackable
hackability
hack about
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
domain hack
hack-and-slash
hack and slasher
hack-and-slasher
hack-and-slay
hackbarrow
Hackintosh
hack-iron
hackish
hack job
hacklab
hackproof
hack saw
hackspace
hack squat
hackster
hacktivism
hacktivist
hackworm
life hack
lifehack
maphack
menu hack
under hack
megahack
Translations:
lang: Arabic
word: اِخْتَرَقَ
roman: iḵtaraqa
lang: Arabic
word: هكر
roman: hakkar
lang: Arabic
word: اخترق
roman: ixtiraq
lang: Arabic
word: هَكَّر
roman: hakkar
lang: Bulgarian
word: ха́квам
roman: hákvam
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 黑
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 黑入
lang: Chinese Mandarin
word: 破解
roman: pòjiě
lang: Finnish
word: hakkeroida
lang: Georgian
word: გატეხვა
roman: gaṭexva
lang: Georgian
word: შეჭრა
roman: šeč̣ra
lang: German
word: hacken
lang: Greek
word: χακάρω
roman: chakáro
lang: Indonesian
word: meretas
lang: Italian
word: accedere illegalmente
lang: Italian
word: introdursi illegamente
lang: Italian
word: penetrare abusivamente
lang: Macedonian
word: хакува
roman: hakuva
lang: Macedonian
word: хаки́ра
roman: hakíra
lang: Malay
word: menggodam
lang: Māori
word: mūrere
lang: Persian
word: هک کردن
roman: hak kardan
lang: Persian
word: نفوذ کردن
roman: nofuz kardan
lang: Polish
word: hakować
lang: Polish
word: zhakować
lang: Polish
word: włamywać się
lang: Polish
word: włamać się
lang: Portuguese
word: hackear
lang: Portuguese
word: invadir
lang: Romanian
word: sparge
lang: Russian
word: взлома́ть
roman: vzlomátʹ
lang: Spanish
word: hackear
lang: Spanish
word: jaquear
lang: Swedish
word: hacka