Dictionaries of the Scots Language
Dictionars o the Scots Leid

Scottish National Dictionary (1700–)

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First published 1956 (SND Vol. IV).
This entry has not been updated since then but may contain minor corrections and revisions.

HACK, n.³ The foot-rest on a peat-spade, consisting usu. of a projecting pin or block on the right-hand side of the shaft (Ork.⁵ 1956). Hence comb. hack-spade, a peat-spade; phr. up to the hack, fig. firmly imbedded or fixed, securely in position, from the distance up to which the spade is driven in cutting the peats (Id.).Ork. 1907 Old-Lore Misc. I. iv. 134:
The flaying is done with an instrument called a “hack spade.” This spade is of the shape of a jet of gas from an ordinary burner with a slight curve forward, so that the cutting is done slantwise.