hacker


Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Financial, Acronyms, Idioms, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.
Related to hacker: Lifehacker

hack·er 1

 (hăk′ər)
n. Informal
1.
a. One who is proficient at using or programming a computer; a computer buff.
b. One who uses programming skills to gain illegal access to a computer network or file.
2. One who demonstrates poor or mediocre ability, especially in a sport: a weekend tennis hacker.

[Perhaps from hacker, amateurish or inept golfer or tennis player (possibly from hack), or perhaps from hack, practical joke, clever scheme (from dialectal hack, to embarrass, confuse, play a trick on).]
Word History: Computer programmers started using the word hacker in the 1960s as a positive term for a person of skillful programming ability. The usage probably derives from hack meaning "to chop," or from hacker, "an amateurish player, as at golf." As time went on, hacker became less positive, however. Already in the 1960s, engineering students at such universities as Cal Tech used the related noun hack to mean "an ingenious prank." Among the pranks that some computer programmers would engage in, of course, were break-ins into other computer systems. As such break-ins attracted national attention, the media seized upon the word hacker as the label for the perpetrators. Many programmers object to this usage, preferring to use the term cracker for a person who acts with malicious intent.

hack·er 2

 (hăk′ər)
n.
See hackie.
American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hacker

(ˈhækə)
n
1. (Computer Science) a person that hacks
2. (Computer Science) slang a computer fanatic, esp one who through a personal computer breaks into the computer system of a company, government, etc
Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hack•er

(ˈhæk ər)

n.
1. one that hacks.
2. a person who engages in an activity without talent or skill.
3. Slang.
a. a computer enthusiast who is esp. proficient in programming.
b. a computer user who attempts to gain unauthorized access to proprietary computer systems.
Random House Kernerman Webster's College Dictionary, © 2010 K Dictionaries Ltd. Copyright 2005, 1997, 1991 by Random House, Inc. All rights reserved.
ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:
Noun1.hacker - someone who plays golf poorly
golf player, golfer, linksman - someone who plays the game of golf
2.hacker - a programmer who breaks into computer systems in order to steal or change or destroy information as a form of cyber-terrorism
act of terrorism, terrorism, terrorist act - the calculated use of violence (or the threat of violence) against civilians in order to attain goals that are political or religious or ideological in nature; this is done through intimidation or coercion or instilling fear
coder, computer programmer, programmer, software engineer - a person who designs and writes and tests computer programs
terrorist - a radical who employs terror as a political weapon; usually organizes with other terrorists in small cells; often uses religion as a cover for terrorist activities
3.hacker - a programmer for whom computing is its own reward; may enjoy the challenge of breaking into other computers but does no harm; "true hackers subscribe to a code of ethics and look down upon crackers"
coder, computer programmer, programmer, software engineer - a person who designs and writes and tests computer programs
4.hacker - one who works hard at boring tasks
unskilled person - a person who lacks technical training
plodder, slogger - someone who works slowly and monotonously for long hours
Based on WordNet 3.0, Farlex clipart collection. © 2003-2012 Princeton University, Farlex Inc.
Translations
قُرْصان الكُمْبيوتِرمُخْتَرِق الحواسيبهاوي حاسوب
hackerpočítačový fanoušek
hackernørd
hakkeri
haker
hekkerszámítógépkalóz
ハッカー
해커
počítačový fanatikpočítačový pirát
heker
hackare
bilgisayar korsanıbilgisayar tutkunuhacker
tin tặc

hacker

[ˈhækəʳ] N (Comput) (= pirate) → pirata mf informático/a
Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hacker

[ˈhækər] n
(gaining illegal access to a computer system)pirate mf informatique, pirate mf
(= computer enthusiast) → passionné(e) m/f des ordinateurs
Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

hacker

n (Comput) → Hacker(in) m(f)
Collins German Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged 7th Edition 2005. © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1980 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1997, 1999, 2004, 2005, 2007

hacker

[ˈhækəʳ] n (Comput) → hacker m/f inv
Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

hack

(hӕk) verb
1. to cut or chop up roughly. The butcher hacked the beef into large pieces.
2. to cut (a path etc) roughly. He hacked his way through the jungle; He hacked (out) a path through the jungle.
noun
1. a rough cut made in something. He marked the tree by making a few hacks on the trunk.
2. a horse, or in the United States, a car, for hire.
ˈhacker noun
1. a person who illegally gains access to information stored in other people's computers.
2. a computer enthusiast.
ˈhacking adjective
(of a cough) rough and dry. He has had a hacking cough for weeks.
ˈhacksaw noun
a saw for cutting metals.
Kernerman English Multilingual Dictionary © 2006-2013 K Dictionaries Ltd.

hacker

قُرْصان الكُمْبيوتِر hacker hacker Hacker χάκερ pirata informático hakkeri pirate informatique haker pirata informatico ハッカー 해커 hacker hacker haker hacker, pirata informático хакер hackare ผู้ที่ชำนาญในการใช้เครื่องคอมพิวเตอร์ในทางที่ผิดกฎหมาย hacker tin tặc 电脑黑客
Multilingual Translator © HarperCollins Publishers 2009
References in classic literature ?
The upper half of each turnip had been eaten off by the live-stock, and it was the business of the two women to grub up the lower or earthy half of the root with a hooked fork called a hacker, that it might be eaten also.
The traveller's ambition to tell was not theirs, and, with dumb impassivity, they dismissed experiences which they did not value for the immediate incidents of this homely upland--the trivial movements of the two girls in disturbing the clods with their hackers so as to uncover something or other that these visitants relished as food.
No, hackers are equal opportunity attackers no organisation is immune.
LAHORE -- Are users' phones and laptops safe from hackers or their data protected from security breaches?
The "Piku" actor has alleged that the hacker had planted adult sites in the 'following' section of his account on the micro-blogging site.
I do not have enough words to describe how happy I am to become the first hacker to reach this landmark, said Lopez.
Hacker arrested in Italy over cyberattacks in UAE school
Lingad was a second-year student of Computer Engineering in Mapua University when he formed an underground hacker organization in the campus - Cryptors, which aimed to raise cybersecurity awareness among the students.
A hacker managed to move from goarmy.com into an internal Department of Defense website that ordinarily required special credentials.
26 January 2018 - California, US-based security platform HackerOne has acquired US-based online web security course Breaker 101, to expand ethical hacker education, the company said.
In a statement, HBO said, "We are not in communication with the hacker and we're not going to comment every time a new piece of information is released.
He claims that it took him several years to get that many followers on his page but they vanished overnight after the hacker was not paid.