*hack*

v. i. 1. to live in the bush as a fugitive or as a guerilla. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

2. to cut one's way through the woods or bush. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. 1. One accustomed to beat about, or travel through, bushes. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

They were gallant bushwhackers, and hunters of raccoons by moonlight. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A guerrilla; a marauding assassin; one who pretends to be a peaceful citizen, but secretly harasses a hostile force or its sympathizers. [ U.S. ] Farrow. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. Traveling, or working a way, through bushes; pulling by the bushes, as in hauling a boat along the bushy margin of a stream. [ U.S. ] T. Flint. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. The crimes or warfare of bushwhackers. [ U.S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To toss up the head frequently, as a horse to avoid the restraint of the bridle. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Hatch a half door. ] 1. A frame or grating of various kinds; as, a frame for drying bricks, fish, or cheese; a rack for feeding cattle; a grating in a mill race, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hacked p. pr. & vb. n. Hacking. ] [ OE. hakken, AS. haccian; akin to D. hakken, G. hacken, Dan. hakke, Sw. hacka, and perh. to E. hew. Cf. Hew to cut, Haggle. ] 1. To cut irregulary, without skill or definite purpose; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument; as, to hack a post. [ 1913 Webster ]

My sword hacked like a handsaw. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Fig.: To mangle in speaking. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. (Computers) To program (a computer) for pleasure or compulsively; especially, to try to defeat the security systems and gain unauthorized access to a computer. [ PJC ]

4. To bear, physically or emotionally; as, he left the job because he couldn't hack the pressure. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

v. t. (Football) To kick the shins of (an opposing payer). [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

v. i. To cough faintly and frequently, or in a short, broken manner; as, a hacking cough. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. A notch; a cut. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough. Dr. H. More. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. (Football) A kick on the shins, or a cut from a kick. T. Hughes. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. (Computers) A clever computer program or routine within a program to accomplish an objective in a non-obvious fashion. [ PJC ]

6. (Computers) A quick and inelegant, though functional solution to a programming problem. [ PJC ]

7. A taxicab. [ informal ] [ PJC ]

Hack saw, a handsaw having a narrow blade stretched in an iron frame, for cutting metal. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Shortened fr. hackney. See Hackney. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A horse, hackneyed or let out for common hire; also, a horse used in all kinds of work, or a saddle horse, as distinguished from hunting and carriage horses. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A coach or carriage let for hire; a hackney coach; formerly, a coach with two seats inside facing each other; now, usually a taxicab. [ 1913 Webster +PJC ]

On horse, on foot, in hacks and gilded chariots. Pope. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. Hence: The driver of a hack; a taxi driver; a hackman. [ PJC ]

3. A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge. [ 1913 Webster ]

Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed,
Who long was a bookseller's hack. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A procuress. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. To ride or drive as one does with a hack horse; to ride at an ordinary pace, or over the roads, as distinguished from riding across country or in military fashion. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

a. Hackneyed; hired; mercenary. Wakefield. [ 1913 Webster ]

Hack writer, a hack; one who writes for hire. “A vulgar hack writer.” Macaulay. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. 1. To use as a hack; to let out for hire. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace. [ 1913 Webster ]

The word “remarkable” has been so hacked of late. J. H. Newman. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. To be exposed or offered to common use for hire; to turn prostitute. Hanmer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To live the life of a drudge or hack. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Sp. jaquima headstall of a halter. ] A halter consisting of a long leather or rope strap and headstall, -- used for leading or tieing a pack animal. [ Western U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A genus of trees (Celtis) related to the elm, but bearing drupes with scanty, but often edible, pulp. Celtis occidentalis is common in the Eastern United States. Gray. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The greater shearwater or hagdon. See Hagdon. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Same as Hagbut. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Zool.) The chipmunk; also, the chickaree or red squirrel. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

prop. n. A genus of plants with seeds that stick to clothing, including stickseed and some of the beggar's lice.
Syn. -- genus Hackelia, Lappula, genus Lappula. [ WordNet 1.5 ]

n. One who, or that which, hacks. Specifically: A cutting instrument for making notches; esp., one used for notching pine trees in collecting turpentine; a hack. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Hind. chhakrā. ] A cart with wooden wheels, drawn by bullocks. [ Bengal ] Malcom. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. The driver of a taxicab; a hackman. [ Colloq. ] [ PJC ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hackled p. pr. & vb. n. Hackling ] 1. To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To tear asunder; to break in pieces. [ 1913 Webster ]

The other divisions of the kingdom being hackled and torn to pieces. Burke. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ See Heckle, and cf. Hatchel. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

1. A comb for dressing flax, raw silk, etc.; a hatchel. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Any flimsy substance unspun, as raw silk. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. One of the peculiar, long, narrow feathers on the neck of fowls, most noticeable on the cock, -- often used in making artificial flies; hence, any feather so used. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. An artificial fly for angling, made of feathers. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ From Hackle. ] 1. Rough or broken, as if hacked. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Min.) Having fine, short, and sharp points on the surface; as, the hackly fracture of metallic iron. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Hackmen The driver of a hack or carriage for public hire. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Of American Indian origin. ] (Bot.) The American larch (Larix Americana), a coniferous tree with slender deciduous leaves; also, its heavy, close-grained timber. Called also tamarack. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Let out for hire; devoted to common use; hence, much used; trite; mean; as, hackney coaches; hackney authors. “Hackney tongue.” Roscommon.

[ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Hackneys [ OE. hakeney, hakenay; cf. F. haguenée a pacing horse, an ambling nag, OF. also haquenée, Sp. hacanea, OSp. facanea, D. hakkenei, also OF. haque horse, Sp. haca, OSp. faca; perh. akin to E. hack to cut, and nag, and orig. meaning, a jolting horse. Cf. Hack a horse, Nag. ] 1. A horse for riding or driving; a nag; a pony. Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A horse or pony kept for hire. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A carriage kept for hire; a hack; a hackney coach. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A hired drudge; a hireling; a prostitute. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hackneyed p. pr. & vb. n. Hackneying. ] 1. To devote to common or frequent use, as a horse or carriage; to wear out in common service; to make trite or commonplace; as, a hackneyed metaphor or quotation. [ 1913 Webster ]

Had I so lavish of my presence been,
So common-hackneyed in the eyes of men. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To carry in a hackney coach. Cowper. [ 1913 Webster ]

n.; pl. Hackneymen A man who lets horses and carriages for hire. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Hack to cut. ] A bully; a bravo; a ruffian; an assassin. [ Obs. ] Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Ham + shackle. ] To fasten (an animal) by a rope binding the head to one of the fore legs; as, to hamshackle a horse or cow; hence, to bind or restrain; to curb. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. (Bot.) A very astringent shrub (Spiraea tomentosa), common in pastures. The Potentilla fruticosa is also called by this name. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Etymol. uncertain. ] Loose; disjointed; falling to pieces; out of repair. [ 1913 Webster ]

There came . . . my lord the cardinal, in his ramshackle coach. Thackeray. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To search or ransack; to rummage. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ Prov. E., to shake, to shed. See Shake. ] 1. To shed or fall, as corn or grain at harvest. [ Prov. Eng. ] Grose. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To feed in stubble, or upon waste corn. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To wander as a vagabond or a tramp. [ Prev.Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Cf. Shack, v. i. ] a small simple dwelling, usually having only one room and of flimsy construction; a hut; a shanty; a cabin. [ Colloq. ]

n. [ Cf. Scot. shag refuse of barley or oats. ] 1. The grain left after harvest or gleaning; also, nuts which have fallen to the ground. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Liberty of winter pasturage. [ Prov. Eng. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A shiftless fellow; a low, itinerant beggar; a vagabond; a tramp. [ Prov. Eng. & Colloq. U.S. ] Forby. [ 1913 Webster ]

All the poor old shacks about the town found a friend in Deacon Marble. H. W. Beecher. [ 1913 Webster ]

These miserable shacks are so low that their occupants cannot stand erect. D. C. Worcester. [ Webster 1913 Suppl. ]

Common of shack (Eng.Law), the right of persons occupying lands lying together in the same common field to turn out their cattle to range in it after harvest. Cowell. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A hound. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. Stubble. [ Prov. Eng. ] Pegge. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ Generally used in the plural. ] [ OE. schakkyll, schakle, AS. scacul, sceacul, a shackle, fr. scacan to shake; cf. D. schakel a link of a chain, a mesh, Icel. skökull the pole of a cart. See Shake. ] 1. Something which confines the legs or arms so as to prevent their free motion; specifically, a ring or band inclosing the ankle or wrist, and fastened to a similar shackle on the other leg or arm, or to something else, by a chain or a strap; a gyve; a fetter. [ 1913 Webster ]

His shackles empty left; himself escaped clean. Spenser. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Hence, that which checks or prevents free action. [ 1913 Webster ]

His very will seems to be in bonds and shackles. South. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. A fetterlike band worn as an ornament. [ 1913 Webster ]

Most of the men and women . . . had all earrings made of gold, and gold shackles about their legs and arms. Dampier. [ 1913 Webster ]

4. A link or loop, as in a chain, fitted with a movable bolt, so that the parts can be separated, or the loop removed; a clevis. [ 1913 Webster ]

5. A link for connecting railroad cars; -- called also drawlink, draglink, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

6. The hinged and curved bar of a padlock, by which it is hung to the staple. Knight. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shackle joint (Anat.), a joint formed by a bony ring passing through a hole in a bone, as at the bases of spines in some fishes. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Shackled p. pr. & vb. n. Shackling. ] 1. To tie or confine the limbs of, so as to prevent free motion; to bind with shackles; to fetter; to chain. [ 1913 Webster ]

To lead him shackled, and exposed to scorn
Of gathering crowds, the Britons' boasted chief. J. Philips. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Figuratively: To bind or confine so as to prevent or embarrass action; to impede; to cumber. [ 1913 Webster ]

Shackled by her devotion to the king, she seldom could pursue that object. Walpole. [ 1913 Webster ]

3. To join by a link or chain, as railroad cars. [ U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

Shackle bar, the coupling between a locomotive and its tender. [ U.S. ] --
Shackle bolt, a shackle. Sir W. Scott. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A sort of shackle. [ Obs. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Shaky; rickety. [ Colloq. U. S. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

v. i. 1. to live together in a sexual relationship, without being legally married. [ Slang, U. S. ] [ PJC ]

2. to live in a cabin, shack, or other crude dwelling. [ Slang, U. S. ] [ PJC ]

{ . See Thatch, Thatcher. [ Obs. or Prov. Eng. & Scot. ] [ 1913 Webster ]