Crack vs. Hack — What's the Difference?

To break without complete separation of parts

Cut with rough or heavy blows

To break or snap apart

Gain unauthorized access to data in a system or computer

To make a sharp snapping sound

Cough persistently

To break down; fail

Manage; cope

To have a mental or physical breakdown

Ride a horse for pleasure or exercise

To change sharply in pitch or timbre, as from hoarseness or emotion. Used of the voice.

A rough cut, blow, or stroke

To move or go rapidly

An act of computer hacking

(Chemistry) To break into simpler molecules, often by means of heat or a catalyst.

A writer or journalist producing dull, unoriginal work

To cause to break without complete separation of parts

A horse for ordinary riding.

To cause to break with a sharp snapping sound

A taxi.

To crush (corn or wheat, for example) into small pieces.

A board on which a hawk's meat is laid.

To strike, especially with a sharp sound

A wooden frame for drying bricks, cheeses, etc.

To cause to come into forceful contact with something, especially with a sharp sound

To cut or chop with repeated and irregular blows

To open to a slight extent

To make or shape by hitting or chopping with a sharp implement

To break open or into

To break up the surface of (soil).

To open up for use or consumption

To alter (a computer program)

To break through (an obstacle) in order to win acceptance or acknowledgment

To gain access to (a computer file or network) illegally or without authorization

To discover the solution to, especially after considerable effort

(Slang) To cut or mutilate as if by hacking

To cause (the voice) to crack.

(Slang) To cope with successfully; manage

(Informal) To tell (a joke), especially on impulse or in an effective manner.

To chop or cut something by hacking.

To cause to have a mental or physical breakdown.

To write or refine computer programs skillfully.

To impair or destroy

To use one's skill in computer programming to gain illegal or unauthorized access to a file or network

To reduce (petroleum) to simpler compounds by cracking.

To cough roughly or harshly.

A partial split or break; a fissure

To let out (a horse) for hire.

A slight narrow space

To make banal or hackneyed with indiscriminate use.

(Informal) The fissure between the buttocks.

To drive a taxicab for a living.

A defect or flaw

To work for hire as a writer.

A sharp snapping sound, such as the report of a firearm.

To ride on horseback at an ordinary pace.

A sharp resounding blow

A rough, irregular cut made by hacking.

A breaking, harshly dissonant vocal tone or sound, as in hoarseness.

A tool, such as a hoe, used for hacking.

An attempt or try

A blow made by hacking.

A witty or sarcastic remark.

An attempt to hit a baseball; a swing of the bat.

A moment; an instant

An instance of gaining unauthorized access to a computer file or network.

(Irish) Fun had when socializing; social amusement.

A program that makes use of existing often proprietary software, adding new features to it.

(Slang) Crack cocaine.

A clever modification or improvement.

Excelling in skill or achievement; first-rate

A rough, dry cough.

(intransitive) To form cracks.

A horse used for riding or driving; a hackney.

(intransitive) To break apart under force, stress, or pressure.

A worn-out horse for hire; a jade.

(intransitive) To become debilitated by psychological pressure.

One who undertakes unpleasant or distasteful tasks for money or reward; a hireling.

(intransitive) To break down or yield, especially under interrogation or torture.

A writer hired to produce routine or commercial writing.

(intransitive) To make a cracking sound.

A carriage or hackney for hire.

To change rapidly in register.

A taxicab.

To alternate between high and low register in the process of eventually lowering.

See hackie.

(intransitive) To make a sharply humorous comment.

By, characteristic of, or designating routine or commercial writing

To realize that one is transgender.

Hackneyed; banal.

(transitive) To make a crack or cracks in.

(transitive) To chop or cut down in a rough manner.

(transitive) To break open or crush to small pieces by impact or stress.

(intransitive) To cough noisily.

(transitive) To strike forcefully.

To withstand or put up with a difficult situation.

(transitive) To open slightly.

(computing) To make a quick code change to patch a computer program, often one that, while being effective, is inelegant or makes the program harder to maintain.

To cause to yield under interrogation or other pressure.

(computing) To accomplish a difficult programming task.

To solve a difficult problem.

To work with something on an intimately technical level.

(transitive) To overcome a security system or component.

To apply a trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to something to increase productivity, efficiency or ease.

(transitive) To cause to make a sharp sound.

To hack into; to gain unauthorized access to (a computer system, e.g., a website, or network) by manipulating code.

(transitive) To tell (a joke).

To gain unauthorised access to a computer or online account belonging to (a person or organisation).

To break down (a complex molecule), especially with the application of heat: to pyrolyse.

To cheat by using unauthorized modifications.

To circumvent software restrictions such as regional coding or time limits.

(ice hockey) To strike an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc.

To open a canned beverage, or any packaged drink or food.

(ice hockey) To make a flailing attempt to hit the puck with a hockey stick.

(obsolete) To brag; to boast.

(baseball) To swing at a pitched ball.

To be ruined or impaired; to fail.

(soccer and rugby) To kick (a player) on the shins.

(colloquial) To barely reach, attain to (a measurement, extent).

To strike in a frantic movement.

A thin and usually jagged space opened in a previously solid material.

(transitive) To strike lightly as part of tapotement massage.

A narrow opening.

To lay (bricks) on a rack to dry.

A sharply humorous comment; a wisecrack.

(falconry) To keep (young hawks) in a state of partial freedom, before they are trained.

(slang) Crack cocaine, a potent, relatively cheap, addictive variety of cocaine; often a rock, usually smoked through a crack-pipe.

(dated) To make common or cliched; to vulgarise.

Something good-tasting or habit-forming.

(horses) To ride a horse at a regular pace; to ride on a road (as opposed to riding cross-country etc.).

(onomatopoeia) The sharp sound made when solid material breaks.

(obsolete) To live the life of a drudge or hack.

(onomatopoeia) Any sharp sound.

To use as a hack; to let out for hire.

A sharp, resounding blow.

To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace.

(informal) An attempt at something.

To drive a hackney cab.

Vagina.

To play hackeysack.

(informal) The space between the buttocks.

A tool for chopping.

Conviviality; fun; good conversation, chat, gossip, or humorous storytelling; good company.

A hacking blow.

Business; events; news.

A gouge or notch made by such a blow.

(computing) A program or procedure designed to circumvent restrictions or usage limits on software.

A dry cough.

An expanding circle of white water surrounding the site of a large explosion at shallow depth, marking the progress of the shock wave through the air above the water.A nuclear explosion in shallow water; the crack is clearly visible on the water's surface.

A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough.

A meaningful chat.

(figuratively) A try, an attempt.

(Internet slang) Extremely silly, absurd or off-the-wall ideas or prose.

(curling) The foothold traditionally cut into the ice from which the person who throws the rock pushes off for delivery.

The tone of voice when changed at puberty.

(obsolete) A mattock or a miner's pickaxe.

(archaic) A mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity.

(informal) An improvised device or solution to a problem.

(archaic) A crazy or crack-brained person.

An expedient, temporary solution, such as a small patch or change to code, meant to be replaced with a more elegant solution at a later date; a workaround.

(obsolete) A boast; boasting.

A computer programmer who makes quick but inelegant changes to computer code to solve problems or add features.

(obsolete) Breach of chastity.

A computer programmer, particularly a veteran or someone not immediately expected to be capable of programming.

(obsolete) A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.

An interesting technical achievement, particularly in computer programming.

A brief time; an instant; a jiffy.

(colloquial) A trick, shortcut, skill, or novelty method to increase productivity, efficiency, or ease.

(obsolete) One who excels; the best.

An illegal attempt to gain access to a computer network.

Highly trained and competent.

A video game or any computer software that has been altered from its original state.

Excellent, first-rate, superior, top-notch.

Time check, as for example upon synchronization of wristwatches.

To break or burst, with or without entire separation of the parts; as, to crack glass; to crack nuts.

(ice hockey) The act of striking an opponent with one's hockey stick, typically on the leg but occasionally and more seriously on the back, arm, head, etc.

To rend with grief or pain; to affect deeply with sorrow; hence, to disorder; to distract; to craze.

(baseball) A swing of the bat at a pitched ball by the batter, particularly a choppy, ungraceful one that misses the ball such as at a fastball.

To cause to sound suddenly and sharply; to snap; as, to crack a whip.

A kick on the shins in football of any type.

To utter smartly and sententiously; as, to crack a joke.

Confinement of an officer to their stateroom as a punishment.

To cry up; to extol; - followed by up.

An airplane of poor quality or in poor condition.

To burst or open in chinks; to break, with or without quite separating into parts.

(falconry) A board which the falcon's food is placed on; used by extension for the state of partial freedom in which they are kept before being trained.

To be ruined or impaired; to fail.

A food-rack for cattle.

To utter a loud or sharp, sudden sound.

A rack used to dry something, such as bricks, fish, or cheese.

To utter vain, pompous words; to brag; to boast; - with of.

A grating in a mill race.

A partial separation of parts, with or without a perceptible opening; a chink or fissure; a narrow breach; a crevice; as, a crack in timber, or in a wall, or in glass.

A horse for hire, especially one which is old and tired.

Rupture; flaw; breach, in a moral sense.

A person, often a journalist, hired to do routine work.

A sharp, sudden sound or report; the sound of anything suddenly burst or broken; as, the crack of a falling house; the crack of thunder; the crack of a whip.

(pejorative) Someone who is available for hire; hireling, mercenary.

The tone of voice when changed at puberty.

(slang) A taxicab (hackney cab) driver.

Mental flaw; a touch of craziness; partial insanity; as, he has a crack.

A vehicle let for hire; originally, a hackney coach, now typically a taxicab.

A crazy or crack-brained person.

A hearse.

A boast; boasting.

An untalented writer.

Breach of chastity.

(pejorative) One who is professionally successful despite producing mediocre work. (Usually applied to persons in a creative field.)

A boy, generally a pert, lively boy.

(pejorative) A talented writer-for-hire, paid to put others' thoughts into felicitous language.

A brief time; an instant; as, to be with one in a crack.

A political agitator.

Free conversation; friendly chat.

A person who frequently canvasses for votes, either directly or by appearing to continuously act with the ulterior motive of furthering their political career.

A witty remark; a wisecrack.

(obsolete) A writer who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge.

A chance or opportunity to do something; an attempt; as, I'll take a crack at it.

(obsolete) A procuress.

A form of cocaine, highly purified and prepared as small pellets, especially suitable for smoking; - also called rock. Used in this form it appears to be more addicting than cocaine powder.

A small ball usually made of woven cotton or suede and filled with rice, sand or some other filler, for use in hackeysack.

Of superior excellence; having qualities to be boasted of; as, a crack shot.

A frame or grating of various kinds; as, a frame for drying bricks, fish, or cheese; a rack for feeding cattle; a grating in a mill race, etc.

A long narrow opening

Unburned brick or tile, stacked up for drying.

A narrow opening;

A notch; a cut.

A long narrow depression in a surface

An implement for cutting a notch; a large pick used in breaking stone.

A sudden sharp noise;

A hacking; a catch in speaking; a short, broken cough.

A chance to do something;

A kick on the shins, or a cut from a kick.

Witty remark

A clever computer program or routine within a program to accomplish an objective in a non-obvious fashion.

A blemish resulting from a break without complete separation of the parts;

A quick and inelegant, though functional solution to a programming problem.

A purified and potent form of cocaine that is smoked rather than snorted

A taxicab.

A usually brief attempt;

A horse, hackneyed or let out for common hire; also, a horse used in all kinds of work, or a saddle horse, as distinguished from hunting and carriage horses.

The act of cracking something

A coach or carriage let for hire; a hackney coach; formerly, a coach with two seats inside facing each other; now, usually a taxicab.

Become fractured; break or crack on the surface only;

The driver of a hack; a taxi driver; a hackman.

Make a very sharp explosive sound;

A bookmaker who hires himself out for any sort of literary work; an overworked man; a drudge.

Make a sharp sound;

A procuress.

Hit forcefully; deal a hard blow, making a cracking noise;

To cut irregulary, without skill or definite purpose; to notch; to mangle by repeated strokes of a cutting instrument; as, to hack a post.

Pass through (a barrier);

Fig.: To mangle in speaking.

Break partially but keep its integrity;

To program (a computer) for pleasure or compulsively; especially, to try to defeat the security systems and gain unauthorized access to a computer.

Break suddenly and abruptly, as under tension;

To bear, physically or emotionally; as, he left the job because he couldn't hack the pressure.

Suffer a nervous breakdown

To kick the shins of (an opposing payer).

Tell spontaneously;

To cough faintly and frequently, or in a short, broken manner; as, a hacking cough.

Cause to become cracked;

To ride or drive as one does with a hack horse; to ride at an ordinary pace, or over the roads, as distinguished from riding across country or in military fashion.

Reduce (petroleum) to a simpler compound by cracking

To use as a hack; to let out for hire.

Break into simpler molecules by means of heat;

To use frequently and indiscriminately, so as to render trite and commonplace.

Of the highest quality;

To be exposed or offered to common use for hire; to turn prostitute.

To live the life of a drudge or hack.

Hackneyed; hired; mercenary.

One who works hard at boring tasks

A politician who belongs to a small clique that controls a political party for private rather than public ends

A mediocre and disdained writer

A tool (as a hoe or pick or mattock) used for hacking the soil

A car driven by a person whose job is to take passengers where they want to go in exchange for money

An old or over-worked horse

A horse kept for hire

A saddle horse used for transportation rather than sport etc.

Cut with a hacking tool

Informal: be able to manage or manage successfully;

Cut away;

Kick on the arms

Kick on the shins

Fix a computer program piecemeal until it works;

Significantly cut up a manuscript

Cough spasmodically;