hack

hack¹ [hæk] v

[: Old English; Origin: haccian]

1.) [I and T]

to cut something roughly or violently

hack (away) at sth

▪ She hacked away at the ice, trying to make a hole.

hack sth off/down etc

▪ Whole forests have been hacked down.

hack your way through/into sth

▪ He hacked his way through the undergrowth.

▪ Both men had been hacked to death (=killed using large knives) .

2.) [I and T]

to secretly find a way of getting information from someone else's computer or changing information on it

hack into

▪ Somebody hacked into the company's central database.

▪ He managed to hack the code.

→↑hacker

3.) can't hack sth informal

to feel that you cannot continue to do something that is difficult or boring

▪ I've been doing this job for years, but I just can't hack it anymore.

4.) [I always + adverb/preposition] BrE

to ride a horse along roads or through the country

5.)

to cough in a loud unpleasant way

hack off [hack sb off] [i]phr v

to annoy someone

▪ His attitude really hacks me off!

hack ²

hack² [hæk] n

[Date: 1700-1800; Origin: hackney 'horse for ordinary riding'; HACKNEYED]

1.) a writer who does a lot of low quality work, especially writing newspaper articles

▪ A Sunday newspaper hack uncovered the story.

2.) an unimportant politician

▪ The meeting was attended by the usual old party hacks.

3.) a way of using a computer to get into someone else's computer system without their permission

4.) AmE informal a taxi, or a taxi driver

5.) an act of hitting something roughly with a cutting tool

▪ One more hack and the branch was off.

6.) an old tired horse

7.) a horse you can pay money to ride on

8.) BrE a ride on a horse

▪ a long hack across the fields