The New York TimesLee SmolinRuth McKenneyJosh QuittnerSamuel L. EarpJim WilsonCara McGooganRichard Feloni
Synonyms
Verb (1)
- address
- contend (with)
- cope (with)
- field
- grapple (with)
- handle
- manage
- maneuver
- manipulate
- negotiate
- play
- swing
- take
- treat
Noun (1)
Noun (2)
Adjective
Example Sentences
Lila MacLellan, Quartz, 14 Oct. 2021
There are now 20 seats in which judges have moved to senior status, giving the new president a chance to hack away at what legal experts have called Trump's most enduring legacy.
—Nicholas Rowan, Washington Examiner, 9 Feb. 2021
James Andrew Lewis, director of the strategic technologies program at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, a think tank in Washington, said that hacking FireEye could open up opportunities to hack many of its clients.
—Ken Dilanian, NBC News, 8 Dec. 2020
Nighttime must be the best time to hack U.S. companies because fewer security teams are awake.
—Kim S. Nash, WSJ, 3 Oct. 2020
Frequently the party had to hack its way through the bush to collect data.
—Scientific American, 14 July 2020
Los Angeles Times Both CalPERS and CalSTRS — the two largest public pension systems in the nation — have been hacked, the agencies reported this week.
—Ryan Fonseca, Los Angeles Times, 23 June 2023
The server that was hacked contained official public and working documents.
—Daniel McFadin, Arkansas Online, 22 June 2023
Some students were burned beyond recognition; others were shot or hacked to death after militants armed with guns and machetes attacked Lhubiriha Secondary School, co-ed and privately owned, which is located about 2 kilometers (just over a mile) from the Congo border.
—Rodney Muhumuza, ajc, 18 June 2023
Mica Soellner, Washington Examiner, 25 Feb. 2021
Sullivan also discussed the sweeping SolarWinds hack, in which network management software used by the U.S. government and the private sector was breached.
—Melissa Quinn, CBS News, 21 Feb. 2021
For Washington State's auditor, the hack was particuarly serious.
—Frank Bajak, Star Tribune, 20 Feb. 2021
The video has been liked hundreds of thousands of times by her followers who copied the hack themselves to emulate a face lift at home.
—Bianca London, Glamour, 20 Feb. 2021
This survival garden hack is a rare exception to the rule.
—Tim MacWelch, Outdoor Life, 19 Feb. 2021
But a certain teeth-whitening hack that uses hydrogen peroxide to get a glimmering smile isn't quite as well-received by dentists.
—Leah Groth, Health.com, 14 Sep. 2020
Though the incident is not known to have resulted in a hack or breach, the exposure is still particularly significant, because the dating apps—3somes, Cougary, Gay Daddy Bear, Xpal, BBW Dating, Casualx, SugarD, Herpes Dating, and GHunt—cater to specific populations.
—Lily Hay Newman, Wired, 3 July 2020
Substitute 1 tablespoon of cream cheese for each egg, keeping in mind that this hack works best in cookie recipes.
—Kelsey Ogletree, Better Homes & Gardens, 1 July 2020
Evan Romano, Men's Health, 8 Sep. 2022
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These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hack.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.
Word History
Verb (1)
Middle English hacken, hakken, going back to Old English *haccian (Class II weak verb, attested in the prefixed forms ahaccian "to hack out, peck out [eyes]," tohaccian "to hack to pieces"), going back to West Germanic *hakkō- (whence also Old Frisian tohakia "to hack to pieces," Middle Dutch hacken, haken "to cut with repeated blows," Middle High German hacken), of uncertain origin
Note: This West Germanic verb is conventionally connected to the etymon of hook entry 1, which is manifested in a variety of vowel grades, on the assumption that hacking or chopping might be done with a hook-shaped implement.
Noun (1)
Middle English hak, hacke, noun derivative of hacken "to hack entry 1"
Noun (2)
short for hackney entry 1
Adjective
from attributive use of hack entry 3
Verb (2)
verbal derivative of hack entry 3
Verb (3)
verbal derivative of hack, noun, "board on which a hawk's food is placed, state of partial liberty under which a hawk is kept before training," of uncertain origin
Note: The noun has been taken as a derivative of hack entry 1, on the assumption that "hacked," i.e. chopped, food was placed on such a board; this appears to gain credence from a passage in a fifteenth-century manual of falconry (British Library MS. Harley 2340): "se hym euer to hackynge … and till he flyethe fro tre to tre, he woll come to hackynge; then he woll not come, but thu moste hacke and leue his mete opon a borde in his neste" (see A.E.H. Swaen, "The booke of Hawkyng after prince Edwarde Kyng of Englande and its relation to the Book of St Albans," Studia Neophilogica, vol. 16 [1943], p. 26).
Noun (3)
perhaps sense development of hack entry 3
Verb (1)
13th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a
Noun (1)
14th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Noun (2)
1571, in the meaning defined at sense 2a(1)
Adjective
circa 1734, in the meaning defined at sense 1
Verb (2)
1846, in the meaning defined at intransitive sense 1
Verb (3)
1873, in the meaning defined above
Noun (3)
circa 1914, in the meaning defined above
Phrases Containing hack
Dictionary Entries Near hack
Cite this Entry
“Hack.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/hack. Accessed 13 Jul. 2023.
Copy Citation
Kids Definition
hack
1 of 5 verbhack
2 of 5 nounhack
3 of 5 nounhack
4 of 5 adjectivehack
5 of 5 verbVerb
Old English -haccian "to cut with repeated blows"
Noun
a shortened form of hackney
Medical Definition
hack
1 of 2 intransitive verbhack
2 of 2 noun
More from Merriam-Webster on hack
Nglish: Translation of hack for Spanish Speakers
Britannica English: Translation of hack for Arabic Speakers
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