1. To make non-functional or greatly degraded in performance. "That big ray-tracing program really hoses the system." See hosed .
2. A narrow channel through which data flows under pressure. Generally denotes data paths that represent performance bottlenecks.
3. Cabling, especially thick Ethernet cable . This is sometimes called "bit hose" or "hosery" (a play on "hosiery") or "etherhose". See also washing machine .
[ Jargon File ]