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Webster 1913 Edition


Cackle

Cac′kle

,
Verb.
I.
[
imp. & p. p.
Cackled
(-k’ld)
;
p. pr. & vb. n.
Cackling
.]
[OE.
cakelen
; cf. LG.
kakeln
, D.
kakelen
, G.
gackeln
,
gackern
; all of imitative origin. Cf.
Gagle
,
Cake
to cackle.]
1.
To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.
When every goose is
cackling
.
Shakespeare
2.
To laugh with a broken noise, like the cackling of a hen or a goose; to giggle.
Arbuthnot.
3.
To talk in a silly manner; to prattle.
Johnson.

Cac′kle

,
Noun.
1.
The sharp broken noise made by a goose or by a hen that has laid an egg.
By her
cackle
saved the state.
Dryden.
2.
Idle talk; silly prattle.
There is a buzz and
cackle
all around regarding the sermon.
Thackeray.

Webster 1828 Edition


Cackle

CACKLE

,
Verb.
I.
1.
To make a particular noise, as a goose or a hen.
2.
To laugh with a broken noise, like the cackling o a goose; to giggle, which is a word from the same root.
3.
To prate; to prattle; to tattle; to talk in a silly manner.

CACKLE

,
Noun.
1.
The broken noise of a goose or hen.
2.
Idle talk; silly prattle.

Definition 2024


cackle

cackle

English

Noun

cackle (plural cackles)

  1. The cry of a hen or goose, especially when laying an egg
  2. A laugh resembling the cry of a hen or goose.

Translations

Verb

cackle (third-person singular simple present cackles, present participle cackling, simple past and past participle cackled)

  1. (intransitive) To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.
    • Shakespeare
      When every goose is cackling.
  2. (intransitive) To laugh with a broken sound similar to a hen's cry.
    • 1918, W. B. Maxwell, chapter 2, in The Mirror and the Lamp:
      She was a fat, round little woman, richly apparelled in velvet and lace, […]; and the way she laughed, cackling like a hen, the way she talked to the waiters and the maid, […]all these unexpected phenomena impelled one to hysterical mirth, and made one class her with such immortally ludicrous types as Ally Sloper, the Widow Twankey, or Miss Moucher.
    The witch cackled evilly.
  3. (intransitive) To talk in a silly manner; to prattle.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Johnson to this entry?)

Synonyms

  • See also Wikisaurus:laugh

Translations

See also