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# hackney

noun (a hackney, hackneys); adjective hackneyed; noun, a name (Hackney)

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

## Everyday

1. (a name) Hackney, a borough (area) in East London. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#m1)
2. A hackney carriage: the official name for a taxi in the UK, especially a black cab. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#m2)
3. A breed of horse or pony with a high-stepping trot, once used to pull carriages. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#m3)
4. «Hackneyed» means used so often it has become boring: a hackneyed phrase. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#m4)

### In the lessons

In everyday British life and law, «hackney carriage» is written on licensed taxis. In history lessons hackney coaches were horse-drawn cabs for hire. In writing lessons teachers warn against hackneyed phrases (clichés) like «it was all a dream». Phrases: hackney carriage, a hackneyed phrase, the London Borough of Hackney.

### Examples

- My cousin lives in Hackney in East London. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#x1)
- The sign on the black cab said «Hackney Carriage». [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#x2)
- Hackney ponies lift their legs high when they trot. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#x3)
- In Victorian times you could hire a hackney coach. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#x4)
- «Once upon a time» is a hackneyed opening for a story. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#x5)
- The writer avoided hackneyed phrases. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#x6)
- Two minutes later, he was sitting in a hackney-coach and driving to Frederickshafen. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/school/H/hackney/#x7)

### Note

Capital H for the place name. Pronounced HACK-nee. «Hackneyed» is the adjective for overused words; it is linked to hired horses that were overworked.

## Early Modern English

### Meaning

a horse-drawn carriage for hire, a cab. [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/H/hackney/#m1)

### Then and now

Today the word is rare and mostly appears in 'hackney-coach' or as a place name; we say taxi or cab.

### Examples

- Two minutes later, he was sitting in a hackney-coach and driving to Frederickshafen. (Andersen's Fairy Tales) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/H/hackney/#x1)
- Never had his age, with which, however, he was always grumbling, seemed so miserable as on this evening. “I'll take a hackney-coach!” thought he. (Andersen's Fairy Tales) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/H/hackney/#x2)
- “By your leave!” said the Councillor to the Hostess, who came bustling towards him. “I've felt so queer all of a sudden; would you have the goodness to send for a hackney-coach to take me to Christianshafen?” (Andersen's Fairy Tales) [tree →](https://mova.elamur.ai/free/en/corpora/dictionaries/emode/H/hackney/#x3)

### Note

Today: taxi, cab.

## On Mova

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