hack (something) out of (something)

hack (something) out of (something)

1. To cut something off of or away from something else. Can you hack the burnt pieces out of the roast?

2. To create something by chopping or cutting away at something else. I'm impressed with how our neighbors hacked a shape out of a tree stump on their front lawn.

See also: hack, of, out

Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2015 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.

hack something out of something

 and hack something out 

1. to cut or chop something out of something. Jill hacked the bone out of the roast. She hacked out the big bone.

2. to fashion something by carving or chiseling from something. He hacked a rabbit out of the chunk of wood. In no time, the carver had hacked out a rabbit.

See also: hack, of, out

McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.