hack-
stem of hack v.1 in Comb., in sense ‘hacking, chopping’. Hence, † hack-chip, a hatchet; hack-file, a locksmith's coarse slitting-file (Knight Dict. Mech. 1875); hack-hammer, an adz-like tool with a short handle, used in dressing stone; hack-hook (see quot.); hack-iron, (a) a miner's pick, = hack n.1 1 c; (b) a chisel for cutting nails (Cent. Dict.); hack-log, † hack-stock, a chopping-block; hack-saw, a saw used in metal-cutting.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 220/2 Hachet, or *hakchyp, securila. |
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 290 The whole surface of the [mill-]stone chopped with cross lines to make it cut faster, by means of a *hack-hammer. |
| 1875 Sussex Gloss., *Hack-hook, a curved hook with a long handle, used for cutting peas and tares, or trimming hedges. |
| 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 195 Striking it upon an upright chisel or *hack-iron. |
| 1831 Carlyle Schiller Misc. Ess. 1872 III. 88 A good enduring *hacklog, whereon to chop logic. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Hack saw, used for cutting off the heads of bolts; made of a scythe fresh serrated. |
| 1411 Nottingham Rec. II. 86, j. *hacstok, jd. ? a 1500 Chester Pl. (E.E.T.S.) iii. 69 Here is a good hackstock [v.r. hacckinge stocke]; on this yow maye hew and knock. 1660 H. More Myst. Godl. viii. i. 363 The very hackstock of Divine vengeance, and the sport and pastime of Misfortune. |
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Add:
hack-and-slash attrib., pertaining to or designating (
esp. role-playing and computer) games, films, etc. which focus chiefly upon combat and violence; also
hack-and-slay;
cf. *
slasher n. 5.
| [1979 Los Angeles Times 11 July iv. 9/1 Kids tend to play the game on a superficial level—hack and slash.] 1981 Christian Science Monitor 9 Feb. 15 This is no *hack-and-slash game. You win by creativity. 1982 J. Butterfield et al. What is Dungeons & Dragons? v. 114 Lack of interest..is often caused by the monotony of so-called ‘hack-and-slay’ adventuring. 1984 Christian Science Monitor 17 Sept. 32/3 [He] went on to New York for what he remembers grimly as ‘A hack-and-slash film’, the movie ‘Mazes and Monsters’. 1988 N.Y. Newsday 18 Dec. (TV section) 71/1 America's favorite homicidal maniac..returns in this, the latest installment of what looks to be yet another interminable series of predictable hack and slash flicks. |