Hacking
Hacking turns up in 2 fields: logistics, building. Here is what it means to the people in each one.
Hacking in logistics
Operating a private vehicle as an unlicensed or illegal taxi service.
The practice of picking up passengers for a fee without the proper commercial licenses, medallions, or municipal permits. It often involves soliciting riders at airports, transit hubs, or busy nightlife areas where legal taxis are scarce. Enforcement agencies target this behavior due to passenger safety concerns and the lack of commercial insurance coverage.
"Port Authority police cracked down on hacking at Terminal 4 last night and impounded three cars."
Hacking in building
An older masonry technique where a single course of stone is split into two thinner courses.
A historic stonemasonry method used when there is a shortage of stones large enough to complete a full course. The mason breaks the line and completes the height using two thinner courses of stone instead of one thick one. This maintains the overall level of the wall while making use of smaller available materials.
"We'll have to use hacking on this section since we ran out of the ten-inch ashlar blocks."