cackle
Americanverb (used without object)
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to utter a shrill, broken sound or cry, as of a hen.
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to laugh in a shrill, broken manner.
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to chatter noisily; prattle.
verb (used with object)
noun
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the act or sound of cackling.
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chatter; idle talk.
verb
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(intr) (esp of a hen) to squawk with shrill notes
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(intr) to laugh or chatter raucously
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(tr) to utter in a cackling manner
noun
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the noise or act of cackling
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noisy chatter
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informal to stop chattering; be quiet
Other Word Forms
- cackler noun
Etymology
Origin of cackle
1175–1225; Middle English cakelen; cognate with Dutch kakelen, Low German kakeln, Swedish kackla
Explanation
To cackle is to laugh in a loud, harsh way. Your dad's jokes might be so bad that they're funny, making you cackle every time. When you cackle, people hear you — it's annoying to sit in an otherwise quiet restaurant beside a table of people who talk and cackle raucously. The sound the cacklers make can also be called a cackle, a squawking laugh that a chicken might make. Experts think there may be a connection between cackle and the Middle Dutch word for "jaw," kake, but it's most likely to be imitative, a word that sounds just like the noise it describes.
Vocabulary lists containing cackle
The Crossover
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Ungifted
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
The men heard a cackle in their headsets as the radio signal to Mission Control faltered and then failed.
From BBC • Aug. 8, 2025
The barely audible cackle of candle kept me company in a stark warehouse room, a setting that felt illicit while the small flame’s fragility reminded me that I needed to make a decision.
From Los Angeles Times • Jan. 6, 2025
The 27-year-old accomplishes this as a shining beacon of joy who earns a welcome cackle from us every Saturday night.
From Salon • Nov. 9, 2024
“We come in here and all of our heads can look in like this and collaborate,” she said, adding with a kidlike cackle, “Isn’t it fun?”
From New York Times • May 2, 2024
Even as he did, a cackle came from above.
From "The Kill Order (Maze Runner, Book Four; Origin)" by James Dashner
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
