hackney
part of speech
noun (a hackney, hackneys); adjective hackneyed; noun, a name (Hackney)
meaning for a pupil
1) (a name) Hackney, a borough (area) in East London. tree →
2) A hackney carriage: the official name for a taxi in the UK, especially a black cab. tree →
3) A breed of horse or pony with a high-stepping trot, once used to pull carriages. tree →
4) «Hackneyed» means used so often it has become boring: a hackneyed phrase. tree →
sense 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 →
- The sign on the black cab said «Hackney Carriage». tree →
- Hackney ponies lift their legs high when they trot. tree →
- In Victorian times you could hire a hackney coach. tree →
- «Once upon a time» is a hackneyed opening for a story. tree →
- The writer avoided hackneyed phrases. tree →
- Two minutes later, he was sitting in a hackney-coach and driving to Frederickshafen. tree →
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.
Trees and pragmatics
Every meaning and example of «hackney» parsed by Mova, each sentence with its dependency tree and frames.