Meanings
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1
noun
a carriage or cab kept for public hire; now chiefly historical except in the term hackney carriage
They left the station in a hackney hired from the rank outside.
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2
noun
a compact, high-stepping breed of harness horse
The Hackney moved around the ring with the breed's characteristic high action.
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3
noun
an ordinary riding or driving horse, especially one available for hire; historical
The traveler hired a steady hackney for the journey to the next town.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English hakeney, 'a small saddle horse, especially one for hire,' probably from the place-name Hackney, near London, where horses may once have been pastured. The hire-horse sense extended to hired carriages and cabs; repeated common use also produced the figurative derivative hackneyed.