hackney
noun
a carriage or coach for hire; cab.
hackney
1 American
[hak-nee]
/ ˈhæk ni /
noun
-
hackneys
plural
-
Also called hackney coach. a carriage or coach for hire; cab.
-
a trotting horse used for drawing a light carriage or the like.
-
a horse used for ordinary riding or driving.
-
(initial capital letter) one of an English breed of horses having a high-stepping gait.
adjective
verb (used with object)
-
to make trite, common, or stale by frequent use.
-
to use as a hackney.
Hackney
2
American
[hak-nee]
/ ˈhæk ni /
noun
hackney
1
British
/ ˈhæknɪ /
noun
-
a compact breed of harness horse with a high-stepping trot
-
-
a coach or carriage that is for hire
-
( as modifier )
a hackney carriage
-
-
a popular term for hack 2
verb
Hackney
2
British
/ ˈhæknɪ /
noun
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Etymology
Origin of hackney
1300–50; Middle English hakeney, special use of placename Hackney, Middlesex, England
Explanation
Use the word hackney to mean either an old-fashioned type of horse-drawn carriage, the type of horse used to pull such carriages, or a taxi cab. If you enjoy carriage rides through the park, you'll want to hire a hackney. The original Hackney is a British place name, an area that's now part of South London but was once rural land covered with horse pastures. The small horse known as a hackney was named after the location, and so were the carriages-for-hire such horses pulled. As automobiles replaced horses, motorized taxis borrowed the name hackney, or sometimes hackney carriage, both of which are still used today in the U.K.
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
Someone showing a miniature pinscher wants to showcase the high-stepping hackney gait that is a hallmark of the breed.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 20, 2022
I live in London, where there is a centuries-old licensed hackney carriage trade.
From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2017
After the first official licensing of hackney carriage drivers in 1838 and the formalisation, decades later, of “the Knowledge”, London’s black cab drivers ruled the roads more or less unchallenged.
From The Guardian ● Apr. 27, 2016
“It’s a girl” was shouted from the rafters of the BT Tower to the more plebeian heights of London’s hackney cabs.
From US News ● May 4, 2015
“Oh! but their removing from the chaise into a hackney coach is such a presumption! And, besides, no traces of them were to be found on the Barnet road.”
From "Pride and Prejudice" by Jane Austen
Everton have actually done a couple of pieces of smart business in signing last season's Championship player of the year Hayden Hackney from Middlesbrough and experienced Denmark midfielder Christian Norgaard from Arsenal.
From BBC ● Aug. 19, 2026
Mayor of Hackney, Zoë Garbett, said she was heartbroken to learn of the boy's death, adding: "All of our thoughts are with the child's family and friends at this incredibly difficult time."
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2026
Hackney wrote her book against the specter of another: “Hillbilly Elegy,” the 2016 bestselling memoir invoking Appalachian values by current Vice President JD Vance, who grew up outside that region in Middletown, Ohio.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 7, 2026
Philip Hackney, a nonprofit law professor at the University of Pittsburgh and former IRS official, said the absence of an independent review creates its own legal exposure.
From Salon ● Aug. 1, 2026
Three mothers with seven children, all from the Hackney area of London, had been billeted on the Tallis family.
From "Atonement" by Ian McEwan
He had used 64 English hackneys, posted along the route two weeks before the run.
From Time Magazine Archive
Polo ponies, saddle horses, hunters, pony tandems, draft horses, tandems, hackneys, artillery horses strapped to caissons, police mounts, jumpers, saddle tandems, road hacks.
From Time Magazine Archive
So did the widely-held opinion that bobtailed, high-stepping English hackneys are more suited to coaching than U. S. standard-bred trotters.
From Time Magazine Archive
They are great travelers, and very enduring, and when broke to the shafts or traces will be excellent in harness as family hackneys.
From Official Report of the Niger Valley Exploring Party by Martin Robison Delany
Another, with a like acreage, specializes in hackneys.
From History and Comprehensive Description of Loudoun County, Virginia by James William Head
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
