hack

verb

/hæk/

Verb Forms

present simple I / you / we / they hack	/hæk/ /hæk/
he / she / it hacks	/hæks/ /hæks/
past simple hacked	/hækt/ /hækt/
past participle hacked	/hækt/ /hækt/
-ing form hacking	/ˈhækɪŋ/ /ˈhækɪŋ/

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[transitive, intransitive] to hit and cut somebody/something in a rough, heavy way
- hack somebody/something + adv./prep. I hacked the dead branches off.
- They were hacked to death as they tried to escape.
- We had to hack our way through the jungle.
- + adv./prep. We hacked away at the bushes.
Extra Examples
- She hacked at the hedge with the shears.
- The body had been hacked to pieces.
Oxford Collocations Dictionary
adverb
- away
- off
preposition
- at
phrases
- hack something to bits
- hack something to pieces
- hack somebody to death
- …
See full entry
[transitive] hack somebody/something + adv./prep. to kick something roughly or without control
- He hacked the ball away.
[intransitive, transitive] (computing) to secretly find a way of looking at and/or changing information on somebody else’s computer system without permission
- hack into something He hacked into the bank's computer.
- hack something They had hacked secret data.
Topics Computersb2, Crime and punishmentb2
[intransitive] + adv./prep. (computing) to work together informally and often quickly with other people to create a program using different technologies
- We spent the morning hacking around with HTML and building web pages.
[transitive]
can/can’t hack it
(informal) to be able/not able to manage in a particular situation
- Lots of people leave this job because they can't hack it.
[intransitive]
(usually go hacking)
(especially British English) to ride a horse for pleasureTopics Hobbiesc2
[intransitive] (North American English, informal) to drive a taxi

Word Originverb senses 1 to 4 Old English haccian ‘cut in pieces’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch hakken and German hacken. verb senses 5 to 6 Middle English: abbreviation of hackney ‘horse or pony of a light breed’.

hack

noun

/hæk/

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(disapproving) a writer, especially of newspaper articles, who does a lot of low quality work and does not get paid muchTopics Literature and writingc2, TV, radio and newsc2
(disapproving) a person who does the hard and often boring work for an organization, especially a politician
- a party hack
an ordinary horse or one that can be hired
(North American English, informal) a taxi
an act of hitting something, especially with a cutting tool
- I was sure he was going to take a hack at us.
a piece of computer code that provides a quick solution to a problem by adding to the official function of a program
(often in compounds) (informal) a strategy or technique that you use in order to manage an activity in a more efficient way
- Have you got any clever parenting hacks?
- Why not try these genius food hacks to save time?
compare lifehack

Word Originnoun sense 5 Old English haccian ‘cut in pieces’, of West Germanic origin; related to Dutch hakken and German hacken. noun senses 1 to 4 Middle English (in sense (3) of the noun): abbreviation of hackney ‘horse or pony of a light breed’. Sense (1) of the noun dates from the late 17th cent.