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Definition of hack verb from the Oxford Advanced Learner's Dictionary

hack

verb
 
/hæk/
 
/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/
Phrasal Verbs
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  1. [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 Dictionaryadverb
    • away
    • off
    preposition
    • at
    phrases
    • hack something to bits
    • hack something to pieces
    • hack somebody to death
    See full entry
  2. [transitive] hack somebody/something + adv./prep. to kick something roughly or without control
    • He hacked the ball away.
  3. [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
  4. [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.
    Topics Computersc2
  5. [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.
  6. [intransitive]
    (usually go hacking)
    (especially British English) to ride a horse for pleasureTopics Hobbiesc2
  7. [intransitive] (North American English, informal) to drive a taxi
  8. 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’.
See hack in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionary

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