verb

hack

to hack, to chop, to cope with

Someone tried to hack my email account.

Someone tried to hack my email account.

He hacked the branches off the tree.

He hacked the branches off the tree.

I can't hack the pace of this new job.

I can't hack the pace of this new job.

((sth.)) to gain unauthorized access to (sth.) Someone tried to hack my email account.

((sth.)) ((off/down)) to cut (sth.) with rough blows. He hacked the branches off the tree.

Synonyms: chop, crack, manage; Antonyms: protect, fail

From Old English 'haccian' (to cut into pieces). The computer sense originated at MIT in the 1950s.

Imagine someone 'hacking' at a computer with an axe to get inside, linking the two main meanings.

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