hack up

phr.v. to cut something into many small pieces in a rough or violent way.

phr.v. to dismember or slice something into smaller parts using rough, forceful strokes.

“The gardener had to hack up the fallen tree branches to fit them in the bin.”

“The chef had to hack up the frozen carcass before it could be processed into smaller, manageable portions for the stew.”

phr.v. to cough very hard to get something out of your throat or lungs.

phr.v. to eject phlegm or a foreign object from the respiratory tract through violent coughing.

“He spent the whole morning hacking up phlegm because of his heavy cold.”

“The patient was hacking up thick mucus, which suggested a significant respiratory infection that required immediate clinical attention.”

Informal

phr.v. to make something, like a computer program or a plan, very quickly and without much care.

phr.v. to produce a piece of software or a physical prototype rapidly and often crudely.

“I managed to hack up a simple script to automate my emails over the weekend.”

“The developers had to hack up a temporary fix for the server crash while they worked on a more robust long-term solution.”

Informal · Technical