What does "hack" mean?
Hack: Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying.
Additional senses
- 2.To cut irregulary, without skill or definite purpose; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument; as, to hack a post. My sword hacked like a handsaw. Shak.
- 3.Fig.: To mangle in speaking. Shak.
- 4.To cough faintly and frequently, or in a short, broken manner; as, a hacking cough.
- 5.A notch; a cut. Shak.
- 6.An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone.
- 7.A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough. Dr. H. More.
- 8.(Football) A kick on the shins. T. Hughes. Hack saw, a handsaw having a narrow blade stretched in an iron frame, for cutting metal.
- 9.A horse, hackneyed or let out for common hire; also, a horse used in all kinds of work, or a saddle horse, as distinguished from hunting and carriage horses.
- 10.A coach or carriage let for hire; particularly, a a coach with two seats inside facing each other; a hackney coach. On horse, on foot, in hacks and gilded chariots. Pope.
- 11.A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge. Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed, Who long was a bookseller's hack. Goldsmith.
- 12.A procuress.
- 13.Hackneyed; hired; mercenary. Wakefield. Hack writer, a hack; one who writes for hire. "A vulgar hack writer." Macaulay.
- 14.To use as a hack; to let out for hire.
- 15.To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace. The word "remarkable" has been so hacked of late. J. H. Newman.
- 16.To be exposed or offered or to common use for hire; to turn prostitute. Hanmer.
- 17.To live the life of a drudge or hack. Goldsmith.
Sources
- Webster's Unabridged Dictionary, 1913 edition (public domain, via GCIDE / Project Gutenberg).
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- Published: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00 · Modified: 2026-07-17T00:00:00-07:00