verb

hack

Translation

to hack, to chop, to crack, to breach

He hacked the tree down with an axe.

Someone hacked into the company's server.

I can't hack this long commute anymore.

to hack ((sth.)) (to cut sth. roughly). He hacked a path through the jungle.

to hack ((into sth.)) (to gain unauthorized access). Someone hacked into our database.

to hack ((sth.)) (informal: to tolerate sth.). I can't hack the noise any longer.

Synonyms: (cut) chop, slash; (computer) crack, breach

From Old English 'haccian' meaning 'to hack to pieces'. The computer sense is a modern extension.

Picture someone 'hacking' at a keyboard with their fingers as if they were chopping wood with an axe. Both involve forceful, repeated actions.