hackr.html - See: RAISE HACKLES or RAISE ONE'S HACKLES.

hackr.html - verb
and noun (Science and Technology) In computing slang, transitive or intransitive verb: To gain unauthorized access to (a computer system or electronic data); to engage in computing as an end in itself, especially when this involves 'outwitting' the system (an activity known as hacking). noun: A person (also known as a hacker) who enjoys using computing as an end in itself, especially when it involves trying to break into other people's systems. Also, an attempt to break into a system; a spell of hacking. Etymology: In both parts of speech, this is a specialized sense development relying on more than one existing sense. The verb probably arises from a US slang sense of hack meaning 'to manage, accomplish, comprehend' (usually in the phrase to hack it), since it first appeared in computing slang to describe enthusiastic use of computers, without any connotation of looking at other people's data; as a word for breaking into other computer systems, though, it must also be influenced by the original sense of the verb, 'to cut with heavy blows'. The noun was probably back-formed from hacking, but in the sense of an attempt to break into a computer system it has links with a more general US sense, 'a try, attempt'. History and Usage: Computing enthusiasts first used this group of words in print to refer to enthusiastic (if not obsessive) use of computers in the mid seventies, although they were almost certainly using them in speech before that. By the early eighties, the 'sport' of breaking into computer systems, whether purely for pleasure, to expose some form of corruption, or as part of a more complex crime, had begun to be reported in the media, and soon appeared to be reaching epidemic proportions. Certainly it is the unauthorized type of hacking that has received greater media exposure, and therefore this set of meanings that has become widely popularized rather than the earlier ones (which nevertheless remain in use among enthusiasts, who still call themselves hacks or hackers). The verb is used either transitively ( one can hack a system) or intransitively, often followed by the adverb in or the preposition into. With the almost universal use of computers in the business world and in defence planning and research in the late eighties, the activities of hackers could prove expensive or dangerous to their targets and various measures were taken to make systems hacker-proof or to provide an electronic hacker watch to catch the culprits red-handed. In the UK the Computer Misuse Act (1990) was a formal attempt to limit the damage. The jargon of hackers (enthusiasts or criminals) has been called hackerspeak. A specialized form of hacking practised by youngsters involves breaking the software protection on computer games; this is also known as cracking . If you want to keep your street cred in the hacking fraternity, you've got to have an introduction screen with stunning graphics , a message to all the other hacking groups saying 'Hi guys. We did it first,' and comments on how good the software protection was . Guardian 27 July 1989, p.
25 Hacking uncovers design flaws and security deficiencies...We must rise to defend those endangered by the hacker witch-hunts. Harper's Magazine Sept. 1989, p.
26 1988: Hacker Robert Morris releases a software virus that kayos 6,000 computer systems. Life Fall 1989, p.
30 The cost of restoring a computer system which is hacked into can run into hundreds and thousands of pounds for investigating and rebuilding the system. The Times 11 Oct. 1989, p. 2

hackr.html - adjectival phrase Also written hack'n'slash (Lifestyle and Leisure ) Of entertainment, especially role-playing and computer games: having combat and violence as its central theme, rather than logical thinking or problem-solving. Etymology: So named because the idea is to hack and slash one's way to a successful conclusion. History and Usage: A term from Dungeons and Dragons (where it originally occurred in the form hack-and-slay). A game based on the idea of killing the enemy, or a person who likes this kind of game, is known as a hack-and-slasher. Perhaps under the influence of the computer-game use, a film or video whose main theme is gratuitous violence may be called a hack-and-slash film or a hack-and-slasher (compare slasher). Added another player: 'This is no hack-and-slash game. You win by creativity.' Christian Science Monitor 9 Feb. 1981, p.
15 A pseudo-educational game...One for the kids, rather than the hack'n'slashers, wethinks. CU Amiga Apr. 1990, p. 5

hackr.html - noun
(Lifestyle and Leisure) In media slang, a female journalist. (Dismissive unless used by a fellow journalist.) Etymology: Formed by adding the feminine suffix -ette (as in usherette, but which also often has patronising or pejorative connotations) to hack. As well as being a pejorative word for a writer (implying poor-quality writing produced to a deadline), hack is used among journalists as a positive term of solidarity for all those who work in in-house journalism. History and Usage: A term coined by the British satirical paper Private Eye, apparently to describe Emma Soames, hackette remains a word particularly favoured by this source, although it has also appeared in a number of the more serious newspapers and has already found its way into fiction . It is principally a British usage, but began to appear in US sources as well from about the middle of the eighties. There are distinguished female professors..., television speakerenes, Fleet Street hackettes, and publishers. Tim Heald Networks (1983), p.
167 One hackette...was ordered to ring up travel writer Bruce Chatwin...and interrogate him. Private Eye 3 Apr. 1987, p.
8 The worlds of newspapers and publishing are unbuttoned, and hackettes can wear pretty well anything. The Times 11 May 1987, p. 12

hackr.html - v. & n.
--v.

1 tr. cut or chop roughly; mangle.
2 tr. kick the shin of (an opponent at football).
3 intr. (often foll. by at) deliver cutting blows.
4 tr. cut (one's way) through thick foliage etc.
5 tr. colloq. gain unauthorized access to (data in a computer).
6 tr. sl. a manage, cope with. b tolerate.

--n.

1 a kick with the toe of a boot.
2 a gash or wound, esp. from a kick.
3 a a mattock. b a miner's pick.

hacking cough a short dry frequent cough. [OE haccian cut in pieces f. WG]

hackr.html - n.,
adj., & v. --n.

1 a a horse for ordinary riding. b a horse let out for hire. c = JADE(2) 1.
2 a dull, uninspired writer.
3 a person hired to do dull routine work.
4 US a taxi. --attrib.adj.
1 used as a hack.
2 typical of a hack; commonplace (hack work).

--v.

1 a intr. ride on horseback on a road at an ordinary pace. b tr. ride (a horse) in this way.
2 tr. make common or trite. [abbr. of HACKNEY]