What does hash mean?
Hash is an unusually wide-ranging word. In cooking, it denotes a stew of meat—often corned beef—chopped or minced with potatoes and commonly fried until crisp; related dishes include hash browns. In computing, a hash is a fixed-size value produced by applying a function to data, allowing efficient comparison, lookup, and storage. Less formally, "a hash of" describes confused speech or writing, while in chiefly British informal use hash can mean cannabis resin. As a verb, hash means to chop or mash food and can also mean to process data with a hash function; in "hash out," it means to discuss or settle something. The word’s range—from an old culinary borrowing connected with chopping by an axe to cryptographic identifiers and digital security—makes it a particularly useful example of how vocabulary shifts with social history and technology.
A stew of chopped or minced meat, usually with potatoes. The word also denotes a value derived from data by a hash function, confused speech or writing, and, in British informal use, cannabis resin.
"We shared a plate of corned beef hash after the long walk."
The food sense is standard in British and American English. The computing sense is technical, the figurative sense is often derogatory, and the cannabis sense is chiefly British and informal.
To chop or mash food into small pieces. It can also mean to process data with a hash function or, in the phrase 'hash out,' to discuss or settle something.
"Hash the potatoes before mixing them with the cooked meat."
The culinary verb is common in American English and is also used in Britain. The computing verb is technical, while 'hash out' is an informal phrasal verb.
The standard plural may refer to individual dishes or, in computing, to multiple hash values or results.
"The restaurant serves several different hashes for breakfast."
Hash began as chopped food, but it now also helps protect passwords: even a tiny change to the original data can produce a completely different hash.
Reviewed by Deb Chak, Editor. AI-assisted content curated by RJS Tech Solutions LLP.
Where does hash come from?
English borrowed hash in the late sixteenth century from French hachis, "minced or chopped meat," from hacher, "to chop," related to hache, "axe." The culinary noun developed alongside later verb uses for chopping or mashing food. The computing sense is a twentieth-century extension involving the reduction of data to a compact, repeatable identifier, while hatchet, hachure, hack, and hachis reflect related axe- and chopping-root connections.
Related word forms
How hash is actually used
The culinary and computing senses are neutral. The expression 'a hash of' is figurative and often derogatory, while the cannabis sense is informal. The phrase 'hash out' is idiomatic and conversational.
Easily confused with hash
In British informal use, hash can mean concentrated cannabis resin, whereas hashish usually denotes dried cannabis material prepared for smoking.