hack

CEFRB2

/hæk/

verb · noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    verb

    To cut roughly with a tool or weapon.

  2. 02

    noun

    A clever way to solve a problem.

Examples

  • I never thought it'd be this easy to hack into your website.

  • I've been trying to hack my way into the system.

At a glance

Sits at B2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
2
Citations
5
Synonyms
5

Deep Dive

verb

Extra meanings

  1. 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.

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

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

More examples

In context

  • Tom couldn't hack into that website.

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

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

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The programmer tried to blank into the company's sensitive database.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

verb

From Middle English hacken, hakken, from Old English *haccian (“to hack”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakkōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakkōną (“to chop; hoe; hew”), from Proto-Indo-European *keg-, *keng- (“to be sharp; peg; hook; handle”). Cognate with Saterland Frisian häkje (“to hack”), West Frisian hakje (“to hack”), Dutch hakken (“to chop up; hack”), German hacken (“to chop; hack; hoe”), Danish hakke (“to chop”), Swedish hacka (“to hack; chop”), French hacher (“to chop”). Related to hatch. The computer senses date back to at least 1955 when it initially referred to creative problem solving. By 1963, the negative connotations of “black hat” or malicious hacking had become associated with tel...