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• hackney
  hackney

  noun

  a carriage or coach for hire; cab.
• Hackney
  Hackney

  noun

  a borough of Greater London, England.

hackney

¹ American  

[hak-nee] / ˈhæk ni /

noun

hackneys plural

1. Also called hackney coach.  a carriage or coach for hire; cab.

2. a trotting horse used for drawing a light carriage or the like.

3. a horse used for ordinary riding or driving.

4. (initial capital letter) one of an English breed of horses having a high-stepping gait.

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adjective

1. let out, employed, or done for hire.

verb (used with object)

1. to make trite, common, or stale by frequent use.

2. to use as a hackney.

Hackney ² American  

[hak-nee] / ˈhæk ni /

noun

1. a borough of Greater London, England.

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hackney ¹ British  

/ ˈhæknɪ /

noun

1. a compact breed of harness horse with a high-stepping trot

2. 1. a coach or carriage that is for hire

   2. ( as modifier )

      a hackney carriage

3. a popular term for hack 2

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verb

1. (tr; usually passive) to make commonplace and banal by too frequent use

Hackney ² British  

/ ˈhæknɪ /

noun

1. a borough of NE Greater London: formed in 1965 from the former boroughs of Shoreditch, Stoke Newington, and Hackney; nearby are Hackney Marshes, the largest recreation ground in London. Pop: 208 400 (2003 est). Area: 19 sq km (8 sq miles)

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Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hackneyism
  noun

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• hackneys
  plural

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

See Examples For:

hackney Hackney hackneys

Council chiefs in all 10 boroughs have signed up to minimum standards for private hire and hackney carriage drivers in the licensing process.

From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2021

I live in London, where there is a centuries-old licensed hackney carriage trade.

From New York Times ● Apr. 23, 2017

“This hackney driver exhibited exemplary behavior and his honest deed should be recognized,” Police Commissioner William Evans said in a statement.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 5, 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

He had some dreadful troubles trying to borrow horses from people, and finally ended up on a groom’s hackney, can tering after Galahad as fast as it could go.

From "The Once and Future King" by T. H. White

The hollyhock pattern from House of Hackney appears throughout Weger’s apartment, even on this fabric lampshade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

Mixing old and new is important, she says, referring to the House of Hackney hollyhock pattern she recently added to the walls of the living room and bedrooms, as well as the dining room lampshade.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 27, 2026

A Hackney Council spokesperson said large projects like Shoreditch Works require careful consideration to ensure they meet policies around affordable housing, workspaces and impacts on neighboring buildings.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 20, 2026

Niall McMenamin, principal licensing officer, said the council is responsible for setting the maximum amount that can be charged by Hackney carriages in the city.

From BBC ● Jun. 17, 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

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

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

As I remember them, the old Gordon hackneys move as deliberately as old Gordon himself—that is, if horse flesh can move as slowly as human flesh.

From Ainslee's, Vol. 15, No. 6, July 1905 by Various

When King Arthur and the two kings saw them begin to wax wroth on both parties, they leaped on small hackneys and let cry that all men should depart unto their lodging.

From Children's Literature A Textbook of Sources for Teachers and Teacher-Training Classes by Clippinger, Erle Elsworth

Related Words

• carriage
• taxi
• taxicab