Source : Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913)

Hack \Hack\, 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.

Hack \Hack\, v. t. (Football)
   To kick the shins of (an opposing payer).

Hack \Hack\, n. (Football)
   A kick on the shins, or a cut from a kick.

Hack \Hack\, 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.

   2. Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying.

Hack \Hack\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hacked}; p. pr. & vb. n.
   {Hacking}.] [OE. hakken; 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.

            My sword hacked like a handsaw.       --Shak.

   2. Fig.: To mangle in speaking. --Shak.

Hack \Hack\, a.
   Hackneyed; hired; mercenary. --Wakefield.

   {Hack writer}, a hack; one who writes for hire. ``A vulgar
      hack writer.'' --Macaulay.

Hack \Hack\, v. t.
   1. To use as a hack; to let out for hire.

   2. To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render
      trite and commonplace.

Hack \Hack\, v. i.
   1. To be exposed or offered or to common use for hire; to
      turn prostitute. --Hanmer.

   2. To live the life of a drudge or hack. --Goldsmith.

Hack \Hack\, v. i.
   To cough faintly and frequently, or in a short, broken
   manner; as, a hacking cough.

Hack \Hack\, n.
   1. A notch; a cut. --Shak.

   2. An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in
      breaking stone.

   3. A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough.
      --Dr. H. More.

   4. (Football) A kick on the shins. --T. Hughes.

   {Hack saw}, a handsaw having a narrow blade stretched in an
      iron frame, for cutting metal.

Hack \Hack\, n. [Shortened fr. hackney. See {Hackney}.]
   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.

   2. A coach or carriage let for hire; particularly, a a coach
      with two seats inside facing each other; a hackney coach.

            On horse, on foot, in hacks and gilded chariots.
                                                  --Pope.

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

            Here lies poor Ned Purdon, from misery freed, Who
            long was a bookseller's hack.         --Goldsmith.

   4. A procuress.

Source : WordNet®

hack
     n 1: one who works hard at boring tasks [syn: {drudge}, {hacker}]
     2: a politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a
        political party for private rather than public ends [syn:
        {machine politician}, {ward-heeler}, {political hack}]
     3: a mediocre and disdained writer [syn: {hack writer}, {literary
        hack}]
     4: a tool (as a hoe or pick or mattock) used for hacking the
        soil
     5: a car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers
        where they want to go in exchange for money [syn: {cab}, {taxi},
         {taxicab}]
     6: an old or over-worked horse [syn: {jade}, {nag}, {plug}]
     7: a horse kept for hire
     8: a saddle horse used for transportation rather than sport
        etc.

hack
     v 1: cut with a hacking tool [syn: {chop}]
     2: informal: be able to manage or manage successfully; "I can't
        hack it anymore"; "she could not cut the long days in the
        office" [syn: {cut}]
     3: cut away; "he hacked with way through the forest"
     4: kick on the arms
     5: kick on the shins
     6: fix a computer program piecemeal until it works; "I'm not
        very good at hacking but I'll give it my best" [syn: {hack
        on}]
     7: significantly cut up a manuscript [syn: {cut up}]
     8: cough spasmodically; "The patient with emphysema is hacking
        all day" [syn: {whoop}]

Source : Free On-Line Dictionary of Computing

hack
     
         1. Originally, a quick job that produces what is
        needed, but not well.
     
        2.  An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece
        of work that produces exactly what is needed.
     
        3. To bear emotionally or physically.  "I can't hack this
        heat!"
     
        4. To work on something (typically a program).  In an
        immediate sense: "What are you doing?"  "I'm hacking TECO."
        In a general (time-extended) sense: "What do you do around
        here?"  "I hack TECO."  More generally, "I hack "foo"" is
        roughly equivalent to ""foo" is my major interest (or
        project)".  "I hack solid-state physics."  See {Hacking X for
        Y}.
     
        5. To pull a prank on.  See {hacker}.
     
        6. To interact with a computer in a playful and exploratory
        rather than goal-directed way.  "Whatcha up to?"  "Oh, just
        hacking."
     
        7.  Short for {hacker}.
     
        8. See {nethack}.
     
        9. (MIT) To explore the basements, roof ledges, and steam
        tunnels of a large, institutional building, to the dismay of
        Physical Plant workers and (since this is usually performed at
        educational institutions) the Campus Police.  This activity
        has been found to be eerily similar to playing adventure games
        such as {Dungeons and Dragons} and {Zork}.  See also
        {vadding}.
     
        See also {neat hack}, {real hack}.
     
        [{Jargon File}]
     
        (1996-08-26)