Definition of "hackney" in English

noun

1. (archaic) An ordinary horse.

2. A carriage for hire or a cab.

3. A horse used to ride or drive.

4. A breed of English horse.

5. (archaic) A hired drudge; a hireling; a prostitute.

6. (archaic, uncountable) Inferior writing; literary hackwork.

   • Not that the existence of Grub street is to be doubted: it was, indeed, a grim actuality, and many a garreter realised by experience How unhappy's the fate To live by one's pate And to be forced to write hackney for bread.

adjective

1. Offered for hire.

   • hackney coaches

2. (figuratively) Much used; trite; mean.

   • hackney authors

verb

1. (transitive) To make uninteresting or trite by frequent use.

2. (transitive) To use as a hackney.

3. (transitive) To carry in a hackney coach.