hack

1. n. Originally, a quick job that produces what is needed, but not well. 2.
n. An incredibly good, and perhaps very time-consuming, piece of work that
produces exactly what is needed. 3. vt. To bear emotionally or physically. I
can't hack this heat! 4. vt. 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. vt. To pull a
prank on. See sense 2 and hacker (sense 5). 6. vi. To interact with a
computer in a playful and exploratory rather than goal-directed way. Whatcha
up to? Oh, just hacking. 7. n. Short for hacker. 8. See nethack. 9.