cackle

[kak-uhl]

verb (used without object)

cackled, cackling 

1. to utter a shrill, broken sound or cry, as of a hen.

2. to laugh in a shrill, broken manner.

3. to chatter noisily; prattle.

verb (used with object)

cackled, cackling 

1. to utter with cackles; express by cackling.

   They cackled their disapproval.

noun

1. the act or sound of cackling.

2. chatter; idle talk.

cackle

/ ˈkækəl /

verb

1. (intr) (esp of a hen) to squawk with shrill notes

2. (intr) to laugh or chatter raucously

3. (tr) to utter in a cackling manner

noun

1. the noise or act of cackling

2. noisy chatter

3. informal,  to stop chattering; be quiet

Other Word Forms

• cackler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of cackle¹

1175–1225; Middle English cakelen; cognate with Dutch kakelen, Low German kakeln, Swedish kackla

Word History and Origins

Origin of cackle¹

C13: probably from Middle Low German kākelen, of imitative origin

Example Sentences

She grabs her head and pulls at her hair as she cackles.

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The cackling of the princess continued until the travelers were outside.

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If you don't know her, you're likely to know her famous cackle which has become her trademark.

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Those stereotypes might bring to mind images of black hats, broomsticks and cackling over cauldrons, common in much media.

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“The sound of her humiliating cackle still haunts me,” Morticia tells her daughter, recounting the experience of her own mom, Hester, reading one of her earlier manuscripts and shaming her for it.

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Related Words

• giggle 
• guffaw 
• laugh