Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HACK, v.i.

1. To be exposed or offered to common use for hire; to turn prostitute. Hanmer.
2. To make an effort to raise phlegm. [See Hawk.]

HACK, v.t. [Sax. haccan; D. hakken; G. hacken; Dan. hakker; Sw. hacka; Fr. hacher, from which we have hash and hatchet, and from the same root, hatchel; Arm. haicha; W. haciaw, to hack; hag, a gash; and haggle is of the same family, as are hew and hoe. Class Cg.]

1. To cut irregularly and into small pieces; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument.
2. To speak with stops or catches; to speak with hesitation. Shak.

HACK'ED, pp.

Chopped; mangled.

HACK'ING, ppr.

Chopping into small pieces; mangling; mauling.

HACK'LE, n.

1. A hatchel. [The latter word is used in the United States.]
2. Raw silk; any flimsy substance unspun. Johnson. Walton.
3. A fly for angling, dressed with feathers or silk. Chalmers.

HACK'LE, v.t. [G. hecheln; D. hekelen. This is a dialectical variation of hatchel, hetchel.]

1. To comb flax or hemp; to separate the coarse part of these substances from the fine, by drawing them through the teeth of a hatchel.
2. To tear asunder. Burke.

HACK'LY, a. [from hack.]

Rough; broken as if hacked. In mineralogy, having fine, short, and sharp points on the surface; as, a hackly fracture. Cleaveland.

HACK'MA-TACK, n.

The popular name of the red larch, the Pinus microcarpa, or more commonly of another species, the Pinus pendula, of Aiton.

HACK'NEY, a.

1. Let out for hire; devoted to common use; as, a hackney-coach.
2. Prostitute; vicious for hire. Roscommon.
3. Much used; common; trite; as, a hackney author or remark.

HACK'NEY, n. [Fr. haquenée, a pacing horse; Sp. hacanea, a nag somewhat larger than a pony; haca, a pony; Port. hacanea or acanea, a choice pad, or ambling nag; It. chinea.]

1. A pad; a nag; a pony. Chaucer.
2. A horse kept for hire; a horse much used; also a lady's pony.
3. A coach or other carriage kept for hire, and often exposed in the streets of cities. The word is sometimes contracted to hack.
4. Any thing much used or used in common; a hireling; a prostitute.

HACK'NEY, v.t.

1. To use much; to practice in one thing; to make trite.
2. To carry in a hackney-coach. Cowper.

HACK'NEY-COACH, n. [See HACKNEY.]

HACK'NEY-COACH'MAN, n.

A man who drives a hackney-coach.

HACK'NEY-ED, pp.

1. Used much or in common.
2. Practiced; accustomed. He is long hackneyed in the ways of men. Shak.

HACK'NEY-ING, ppr.

Using much; accustoming.

HACK'NEY-MAN, n.

A man who lets horses and carriages for hire. Barret.

HACK'STER, n.

A bully; a ruffian or assassin. [obs.] Bp. Hall.

HAC'QUE-TON, n. [Fr. hoqueton.]

A stuffed jacket formerly worn under armor, sometimes made of leather. [Not used.] Spenser.

HAD, v.t. [pret. and pp. of have; contracted from Sax. hæfd, that is, haved; as, I had; I have had. In the phrase, “I had better go,” it is supposed that had is used for would; “I'd better go.” The sense of the phrase is, “it would be better for me to go.”]

HAD'DER, n. [G. heide.]

Heath. [Not in use. See Heath.]

HAD'DOCK, n. [Ir. codog. The first syllable seems to be cod or gadus, and the last, the termination, as in bullock.]

A fish of the genus Gadus or cod, and order of Jugulars. It has a long body, the upper part of a dusky brown color, and the belly of a silvery hue; the lateral line is black. This fish breeds in immense numbers in the northern seas, and constitutes a considerable article of food. Encyc.

HADE, n.

1. Among miners, the steep descent of a shaft; also, the descent of a hill. Drayton.
2. In mining, the inclination or deviation from the vertical of a mineral vein. Cyc.

HA'DES, n. [Gr. αδης, qu. α negative, and ειδω, to see.]

The region of the dead; the invisible world, or the grave.

HADJ, n. [Ar.]

The pilgrimage to Mecca and Medina, performed by Mohammedans.

HAF'FLE, v.i.

To speak unintelligibly; to prevaricate.