hacking

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

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

2. To cough noisily.

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

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

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

4. To make a quick code change to patch a computer program, often one that, while being effective, is inelegant or makes the program harder to maintain.

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

5. To accomplish a difficult programming task.

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

6. To work with something on an intimately technical level.

   I'm currently hacking distributed garbage collection.

7. (by extension) To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease.

   I read up on dating tips so I can hack my sex life.

8. To hack into; to gain unauthorized access to (a computer system, e.g., a website, or network) by manipulating code.
9. (by extension) To gain unauthorised access to a computer or online account belonging to (a person or organisation).

   When I logged into the social network, I discovered I'd been hacked.

10. To strike an opponent's leg with one's hockey stick.

    He's going to the penalty box after hacking the defender in front of the goal.

11. To make a flailing attempt to hit the puck with a hockey stick.

    There's a scramble in front of the net as the forwards are hacking at the bouncing puck.

12. To swing at a pitched ball.

    He went to the batter's box hacking.

13. (soccer and rugby) To kick (a player) on the shins.
14. To strike in a frantic movement.
15. To strike lightly as part of tapotement massage.

1. To lay (bricks) on a rack to dry.
2. To keep (young hawks) in a state of partial freedom, before they are trained.

1. To make common or cliched; to vulgarise.
2. To ride a horse at a regular pace; to ride on a road (as opposed to riding cross-country etc.).
3. To be exposed or offered or to common use for hire; to turn prostitute.
4. To live the life of a drudge or hack.
5. To use as a hack; to let out for hire.
6. To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace.

verb

To play hackeysack.

1. Short and interrupted, broken, jerky; hacky.

   A hacking cough. A hacking laugh. A hacking breath. A hacking cry.

1. Playful solving of technical work that requires deep understanding, especially of a computer system.
2. Unauthorized attempts to bypass the security mechanisms of an information system or network. See also cracker.
3. A dry coughing; the emission of a succession of short coughs.
4. A kick in the shins.
5. (massage) The act of striking the muscles with the side of the hand.
6. A riding or journey on horseback.
7. The operation of working over the faces of rough or worn grindstones with a hack-hammer.
8. The separation of a course of stones into two smaller courses, when there are not enough large stones to form a single course.
9. (gem-cutting) The cuts and grooves made in the metal laps by holding the cutting edge of a steel blade against them while in motion, for the purpose of providing receptacles or pockets for the powders using in cutting and polishing gems.
10. (brick-making) The piling of bricks for drying.