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

“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.

From Salon

The men heard a cackle in their headsets as the radio signal to Mission Control faltered and then failed.

From BBC

He pauses: “It was ancestral spirits, whatever you want to call it,” adding with a mischievous cackle, “But not voodoo!”

From Los Angeles Times

The day before the tour, DeSantis cackled over the conditions awaiting detainees in the camp located about 45 miles west of Miami amid swamps inhabited by pythons and alligators.

From Los Angeles Times

When I saw this image of the would-be Poot matriarch for the first time the other day, my first reaction was a hard cackle.

From Salon

Related Words

• giggle 
• guffaw 
• laugh