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cackle

noun
/ˈkækəl/

Etymology

From Middle English caclen, cakelen, perhaps from Old English *caclian, *cacolian, from Proto-West Germanic *kakulōn, *kakilōn (“to cackle, gaggle, yelp, snarl”), perhaps of imitative origin. By surface analysis, cack + -le. Compare Dutch kakelen (“to cackle”), German Low German kakeln (“to cackle”), German kakeln (“to blather”), Danish kagle (“to cackle”), Swedish kackla (“to cackle”). Compare also Old English cahhetan, ċeahhettan (“to laugh loudly; cackle”), German gackern (“to cackle”).

  1. inherited from *kakulōn✻
  2. inherited from *caclian✻
  3. inherited from caclen

Definitions

  1. The cry of a hen or goose, especially when laying an egg.

    • I heard a grey hen cackling among the ling; I called and thought, "If I could get a sight of you now, it would be your last cackle;" just then I heard something moving behind me on the path.

  2. A laugh resembling the cry of a hen or goose.

  3. Futile or excessively noisy talk.

    • There's no time to waste on silly cackle.
  4. ›+ 5 more definitions

    1. A group of hyenas.

    2. To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.

      • When every goose is cackling.
      • I heard a grey hen cackling among the ling; I called and thought, "If I could get a sight of you now, it would be your last cackle;" just then I heard something moving behind me on the path.

    3. To laugh with a broken sound similar to a hen's cry.

      • The witch cackled evilly.

    4. To talk in a silly manner

      To talk in a silly manner; to prattle.

      • It is also the business of a sensible government, not to cackle on its discoveries

    5. To pretend to rattle (dice) in one's hand while gripping them so that they maintain their…

      To pretend to rattle (dice) in one's hand while gripping them so that they maintain their orientation.

      • Danny cackled the dice furiously in his cupped hand, then rolled them so they stopped inches from Slattery's hands. The result was the same as before – a seven.

The neighborhood

Derived

cackleberry, cackle-fart, cackly, hen-cackle, cackle bladder, cackle-bladder, cackle fruit, cackler, cackling goose, cacklingly

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for cackle. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA