English

Alternative forms

• hard tack

Noun

hardtack ‎(countable and uncountable, plural hardtacks)

1. (nautical) A large, hard biscuit made from unleavened flour and water; formerly used as a long-term staple food aboard ships.
   • 1913, Joseph C. Lincoln, chapter 8, in Mr. Pratt's Patients:

     Philander went into the next room […] and came back with a salt mackerel that dripped brine like a rainstorm. Then he put the coffee pot on the stove and rummaged out a loaf of dry bread and some hardtack.

Synonyms

• (hard biscuit): pilot biscuit, pilot bread, sea biscuit, sea bread, ship's biscuit, ship biscuit

Translations

See also

• reefer's nut
• softtack