cackle
[ kak-uh l ]
/ ˈkæk əl /
verb (used without object), cack·led, cack·ling.
to utter a shrill, broken sound or cry, as of a hen.
to laugh in a shrill, broken manner.
to chatter noisily; prattle.
verb (used with object), cack·led, cack·ling.
to utter with cackles; express by cackling: They cackled their disapproval.
noun
the act or sound of cackling.
chatter; idle talk.
Nearby words
cacique, caciquism, cack, cack-handed, cackermander, cackle, cackleberry, cacky, caco-, cacodemon, cacodyl
Origin of cackle
1175–1225; Middle English cakelen; cognate with Dutch kakelen, Low German kakeln, Swedish kackla
Related formscack·ler, noun
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Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for cackle
British Dictionary definitions for cackle
cackle
/ (ˈkækəl) /
verb
(intr) (esp of a hen) to squawk with shrill notes
(intr) to laugh or chatter raucously
(tr) to utter in a cackling manner
noun
the noise or act of cackling
noisy chatter
cut the cackle informal to stop chattering; be quiet
Derived Formscackler, noun
Word Origin for cackle
C13: probably from Middle Low German kākelen, of imitative origin
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for cackle
cackle
early 13c., imitative (see cachinnation); perhaps partly based on Middle Dutch kake "jaw." Related: Cackled; cackling. As a noun from 1670s. Cackleberries, slang for "eggs" is first recorded 1880.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper