noun · countable / uncountable · rare

hackney

hackney · hackneys

A carriage for hire or a cabA carriage for hire or a cab.

ⓘⓘ

/ˈhækni/

» I could only come up with hackneyed lines.

Meaning

6 senses

(countable, uncountable)A carriage for hire or a cab.
a carriage for hire
(countable, uncountable)A horse used to ride or drive.
(countable, uncountable)A breed of English horse.
(archaic, countable, uncountable)An ordinary horse.
a compact breed of harness horse
(archaic, countable, uncountable)A hired drudge; a hireling; a prostitute.
(archaic, uncountable)Inferior writing; literary hackwork.

Examples

4 sentences

I could only come up with hackneyed lines.
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A bad writer's prose is full of hackneyed phrases.
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It's better not to use rhyme than to use hackneyed rhyme.
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In Russian, "love" and "blood", "night" and "help", "roses" and "frost", and so on are all good examples of hackneyed rhymes.
ruЛюбовь — кровь, ночь — помочь, розы — морозы и др. — всё это неплохие примеры избитых рифм.
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Origin

From Middle English hakeney, from the placename Hackney (formerly a town; now a borough of

From Middle English hakeney, from the placename Hackney (formerly a town; now a borough of London), used for grazing horses before sale, from Old English *Hacan īeġ (“Haca's Island”, literally “Hook's Island”). The Old French haquenée (“ambling mare for ladies”), Latinized in England to hakeneius, is originally from the English.

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