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cackle

[kak-uh l]
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verb (used without object), cack·led, cack·ling.
  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.
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verb (used with object), cack·led, cack·ling.
  1. to utter with cackles; express by cackling: They cackled their disapproval.
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noun
  1. the act or sound of cackling.
  2. chatter; idle talk.
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Origin of cackle

1175–1225; Middle English cakelen; cognate with Dutch kakelen, Low German kakeln, Swedish kackla
Related formscack·ler, noun
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Related Words

giggle, guffaw, chortle, quack, cluck, snicker, crow, snigger, gobble, titter, gibber, chuckle, blather, burble, babble, jabber

Examples from the Web for cackle

Contemporary Examples

Historical Examples

  • The detective indulged himself in a cackle of sneering merriment.

    Within the Law

    Marvin Dana

  • And now stop your clatter and go to sleep; I'm tired of hearing you cackle.

  • The captain looked at him dully; then, understanding, a cackle came from his throat.

    Under Arctic Ice

    H.G. Winter

  • And suddenly, unaccountably, he began to chuckle; he began to cackle noisily.

  • A mingling of honk and cackle, it manifested not excitement so much as curiosity.

British Dictionary definitions for cackle

cackle

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
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noun
  1. the noise or act of cackling
  2. noisy chatter
  3. cut the cackle informal to stop chattering; be quiet
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Derived Formscackler, noun

Word Origin

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 Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Word Origin and History for cackle

v.

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.

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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper