Definition

1. Noun:

   • Chopped meat mixed with potatoes and browned: A dish consisting of finely chopped meat (often cooked) mixed with diced potatoes and other ingredients, then fried or baked until browned.
   • A confused or muddled mixture; a jumble: A state of disorder or a mess.
   • (Informal, short for 'hashish'): A purified resinous extract of the cannabis plant, used as a psychoactive drug.

2. Verb:

   • To chop into small pieces; to mince: To cut food, especially meat or vegetables, into very small, irregular pieces.
   • To discuss or review thoroughly and intensively: To talk about or examine something in great detail, often repeatedly.

Usage Examples

• Noun (Food):
  • For breakfast, he ordered corned beef hash with a fried egg on top.
  • My grandmother makes a delicious roast beef hash with leftover meat and potatoes.
• Noun (Mess/Jumble):
  • The instructions were a complete hash and impossible to follow.
  • He made a real hash of the presentation by mixing up all the slides.
• Verb (To chop):
  • You need to hash the potatoes finely for this recipe.
  • The chef hashed the leftover roast for the next day's special.
• Verb (To discuss):
  • The committee spent the afternoon hashing out the final details of the contract.
  • We need to hash over the plan one more time before the meeting.

Advanced Usage

• "To make a hash of (something)": To do something very badly; to make a mess of it.
  • I'm afraid I made a hash of repairing the faucet; now it's leaking worse than before.
• "To settle someone's hash" (Informal, dated): To deal with someone decisively, especially by defeating or silencing them.
  • The experienced debater quickly settled his opponent's hash with a few sharp facts.

Variants and Related Words

• Hashish (n): The full term for the cannabis resin, often shortened informally to 'hash'.
  • Hashish has been used in various cultures for centuries.
• Hasher (n): (Informal) A cook, especially one who prepares hash or works in a diner.
• Rehash (v/n): To present old ideas or material again without significant change; a reuse of old material.
  • The sequel was just a rehash of the plot from the first movie.

Synonyms

• Noun (Food): Minced meat, chopped meat.
• Noun (Mess): Jumble, mess, muddle, confusion.
• Verb (Chop): Mince, chop up, dice.
• Verb (Discuss): Thrash out, work out, debate, review.

Related Phrasal Verbs

• Hash out: To discuss something thoroughly until a solution or agreement is reached.
  • The lawyers met to hash out the terms of the settlement.
• Hash over: To talk about or examine something again, often repeatedly.
  • We hashed over the same old problems but found no new answers.

Related Idioms

• Hash house (Slang, dated): A cheap restaurant or diner.
  • We ate breakfast at a little hash house on the corner.
• Hash marks: (1) In American football, the lines on the field marking yardage. (2) In military contexts, service stripes on a uniform sleeve.
  • The running back was tackled between the hash marks.

Noun

1. purified resinous extract of the hemp plant; used as a hallucinogen
2. chopped meat mixed with potatoes and browned

Verb

1. chop up
   • hash the potatoes