Hack

Part of speech: verb, noun

Pronunciation: /hæk/

Definitions

1. To cut or chop roughly with repeated heavy blows ; to gain unauthorized access to computer systems or data ; a person who produces boring or uninspired work, especially writing or journalism
2. To chop or slice something in a rough, heavy-handed manner ; to break into computer networks or accounts without permission ; a worker who delivers banal or repetitive content, typically for hire
3. To strike repeatedly to cut or shape roughly ; to intrude into digital systems without rights ; someone who creates uncreative or tedious professional work often for payment

Etymology: Long before it meant breaking into computers, "hack" meant chopping. Its ancestor, Old English "haccian," described blows that cut roughly and repeatedly, and the same root gave German "hacken," Dutch "hakken," and French "hacher," all meaning to chop. The term "hack" for a poor writer took a very different route. It began as a shortening of "hackney," an ordinary horse for hire, probably from the place name Hackney, and a hired horse was worked hard for little reward. The sense then shifted from the animal to the person, so a hack came to mean someone producing dull work for money. The computing sense has a clearer date than most. By 1955 it described creative problem solving, a playful, admiring meaning among programmers. By 1963 the sense had darkened: telephone hacking, the exploitation of phone systems often called phreaking, had become associated with malicious intrusion, and the "black hat" image followed from that.

Synonyms: cut, chop, slash, mangle, sabotage

Antonyms: repair, fix, construct