hack
A tool for choppingA tool for chopping.
» Tom couldn't hack into that website.
Meaning
41 senses(countable, uncountable)A tool for chopping.
(countable, uncountable)A hacking blow.
(countable, uncountable)A gouge or notch made by such a blow.
(countable, figuratively, uncountable)A try, an attempt.
(countable, uncountable)The foothold traditionally cut into the ice from which the person who throws the rock pushes off for delivery.
(countable, informal, uncountable)An improvised device or solution to a problem.
Luckily for us J company picked us up in their hack — two snowmobiles with a big inflatable raft strapped between them.
(countable, slang, uncountable)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.
Hack
костыльkostylʹ
(countable, dated, slang, uncountable)A computer programmer who makes quick but inelegant changes to computer code to solve problems or add features.
Tsang is great but Zhou is such a hack — I wouldn't want him on my project.
(countable, dated, slang, uncountable)A computer programmer, particularly a veteran or someone not immediately expected to be capable of programming.
Terry wrote that module? I didn't know she was a hack too!
(countable, slang, uncountable)An interesting technical achievement, particularly in computer programming.
Flugensoft came out with a neat hack last week that allows your watch to warm up your car if it's below freezing outside.
(colloquial, countable, uncountable)A trick, shortcut, skill, or novel method to increase productivity, efficiency, or ease.
Putting your phone in a sandwich bag when you go to the beach is such a great hack.
(countable, slang, uncountable)The illegal accessing of a computer network.
Examples
115 sentencesTom couldn't hack into that website.
I didn't hack into anybody's computer.
Linux can be hacked as well.
ruLinux тоже можно хакнуть.
deAuch Linux kann man hacken.
We hacked a path through the forest.
ruМы проложили тропинку через лес.
Our database was hacked three days ago.
Translations
7 languagesBy meaning 3
By meaning 1
Origin
From Middle English hacken, hakken, from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-WestFrom 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”).
Variations of hatch, heck.
Abbreviation of hackney (“an ordinary horse”), probably from place name Hackney.
Unclear. Perhaps imitative; compare hock, hawk. Alternatively, perhaps from hack (“chop; do something difficult”) via the idea of doing something (like breathing) or with difficulty.
From hackysack.
Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0 · source
Forms
plural: hacksSynonyms
24 synonyms- an old or over-worked horse:jadenagplug
- one who works hard at boring tasks:drudgehacker
- a mediocre and disdained writer:hack writerliterary hack
- a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money:cabtaxitaxicab
- a politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public ends:machine politicianward-heelerpolitical hack
Word family
34 related wordsLessons for this word
1 lessons- A1Countable and uncountable nouns — Because it can be uncountable