Hack

From Fresh Dictionary

Contents 1 English 1.1 Verb 1.2 Related Terms 1.3 See Also 1.3.1 Translations 1.4 Noun 1.5 Related Terms 1.6 See Also 1.6.1 Translations 1.7 Adjective

English

Verb

to hack (third-person singular simple present hacks, present participle hacking, simple past hacked, past participle hacked)

1. To cough noisily.

   This cold is awful. I can't stop hacking.

2. To chop or cut down in a rough manner.

   They hacked the brush down and made their way through the jungle.

3. To withstand or put up with a difficult situation.

   Can you hack it out here with no electricity or running water?

4. To play hackeysack.
5. to accomplish a difficult programming task.

   She can hack like no one else and make the program work as expected.

6. To work with on an intimately technical level.

   I'm currently hacking distributed garbage collection.

7. To make a quick code change to patch a computer program.

   I hacked in a fix for this bug, but we'll still have to do a real fix later..

8. To gain unauthorized access to a computer system (e.g. website) by manipulating code. (Widely called "crack")
9. to hack into; to gain illegal access to a computer network; a "crack" in computer parlance.

Related Terms

• hack in
• hack into
• hack up
• hacker

See Also

• crack
• frob
• tweak

Translations

• Dutch: kuchen (1), hakken (2)
• Finnish: yskiä (1), köhiä (1), hakata (alas/maahan)(2), selvitä (3), pärjätä (3), koodata (5), pätsätä (6, slang)
• Interlingua: hachar (2)
• Polish: hakować
• Volapük: cöpilön (2)

Noun

hack (plural: hacks)

1. A dry cough.
2. ((slang{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}})): A taxicab driver.
3. An ordinary horse, especially an old, tired one.
4. A small ball usually made of woven cotton or suede and filled with rice, sand or some other filler, for the use in hackeysack.
5. A talented writer-for-hire, paid to put others' thoughts into felicitous language.
6. An untalented writer.

   He's nothing but a two-bit hack.

7. An interesting technical achievement, particularly in computer programming.
8. An illegal attempt to gain access to a computer network. (Actually called a "crack" in computer parlance).
9. ((computing{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}})): A small code change meant to patch a problem as quickly as possible.
10. ((slang{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}})): Time check (military usage).
11. (curling) The foothold device from which the person who throws the rock pushes off for delivery.
12. ((slang{{#if:|, {{{2}}}{{#if:|, {{{3}}}{{#if:|, {{{4}}}{{#if:|, {{{5}}}{{#if:|, {{{6}}}{{#if:|, {{{7}}}{{#if:|, {{{8}}}{{#if:|, {{{9}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}}})): A prison guard.

Related Terms

• marginal hacks

See Also

• kludge
• hack down

Translations

• Dutch: kuch m. (1), knol (5)
• Finnish: yskä (1), köhä (1), taksi (2), pirssi (2, colloquial), taksikuski (3), koni (4)
• Interlingua: taxi (5)
• Spanish: taxi (2), jaca (4)
• Volapük: cöpilod (2)

Adjective

hack, not comparable

1. (literature) Having or requiring little talent.

   He's nothing but the typical hack writer.

   I got by on hack work for years before I finally published my novel.

fr:hack it:hack zh:hack