Webster
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Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary · 1913

Hackney

Hack′ney (-ny̆), n.; pl. Hackneys (-nĭz). [OE. hakeney, hakenay; cf. F. haquenée a pacing horse, an ambling nag, OF. also haguenée, Sp. hacanea, OSp. facanea, D. hakkenei, also OF. haque horse, Sp. haca, OSp. faca; perh. akin to E. hack to cut, and nag, and orig. meaning, a jolting horse. Cf. Hack a horse, Nag.] 1. A horse for riding or driving; a nag; a pony. Chaucer.

2. A horse or pony kept for hire.

3. A carriage kept for hire; a hack; a hackney coach.

4. A hired drudge; a hireling; a prostitute.

Hack′ney, a. Let out for hire; devoted to common use; hence, much used; trite; mean; as, hackney coaches; hackney authors. "Hackney tongue." Roscommon.

Hack′ney, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Hackneyed (-nĭd); p. pr. & vb. n. Hackneying.] 1. To devote to common or frequent use, as a horse or carriage; to wear out in common service; to make trite or commonplace; as, a hackneyed metaphor or quotation.

Had I so lavish of my presence been, So common-hackneyed in the eyes of men. Shak.

2. To carry in a hackney coach. Cowper.

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Noah Porter, editor (Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913). Public domain. Text as transcribed by MICRA, Inc., from Project Gutenberg. Changed for Deep Dive Bible: Greek, which our source spelled in Latin letters, set in Greek letters; entries of one spelling merged into one article; Greek words our source left out (shown as “?”), read from the 1898 printing, from the same plates (the Library of Congress’s copy), where the place could be found with certainty.