hardtack

[hahrd-tak] Origin

hard·tack

[hahrd-tak]
noun
a hard, saltless biscuit, formerly much used aboard ships and for army rations.
Also called pilot biscuit, pilot bread, ship biscuit, ship bread.


Origin:
1830–40; hard + tack2
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Hardtack is always a great word to know.
So is quincunx. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a chattering or flighty, light-headed person.
Collins
World English Dictionary
hardtack (ˈhɑːdˌtæk)
 
n
pilot biscuit, ship's biscuit, Also called: sea biscuit a kind of hard saltless biscuit, formerly eaten esp by sailors as a staple aboard ship

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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Etymonline
Word Origin & History

hardtack
1836, "ship's biscuit," from hard + tack (3); soft-tack was "bread."
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
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