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# hacker

noun (a hacker, hackers)

«hacker» in the English dictionary: everyday — its meanings, how the lessons use it, and examples, each with its tree on Mova.

## Everyday

1. A hacker is a person who uses computer skills to get into computers or systems, often without permission, which is a crime. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#m1)
2. A hacker can also be a very skilled programmer who enjoys solving computer problems in clever ways. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#m2)
3. An ethical hacker («white hat») is paid to find weak spots so they can be fixed. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#m3)
4. (informal) A hacker in sport is a poor player, especially in golf. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#m4)

### In the lessons

In computing and online safety lessons, hackers are a reason to use strong passwords and never share them. Breaking into someone's account is illegal even for a joke. Some hackers work for companies to keep systems safe. In news, «hackers stole data» means criminals got into a system. Phrases: ethical hacker, white-hat hacker, black-hat hacker.

### Examples

- A hacker tried to get into the school website. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#x1)
- Use a strong password to protect your account from hackers. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#x2)
- Ethical hackers help banks find weak spots. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#x3)
- Hackers stole thousands of email addresses. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#x4)
- My cousin is a hacker who builds robots in his garage. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#x5)
- Logging into someone else's account without permission is a crime. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#x6)
- The hackers at the competition fixed the bug in an hour. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/#x7)

### Note

Countable. The word itself can be good (a clever programmer) or bad (a criminal); the news nearly always uses the bad sense. The verb is «hack».

## On Mova

- [Trees and pragmatics of «hacker» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hacker/): every meaning and example parsed by Mova, with its dependency tree and frames.
- [«hacker» in the school dictionary](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/dictionaries/school/w/hacker.html) on Mova free.