Dictionary.com
Thesaurus.com
Showing results for heckle. Search instead for heckled.
Synonyms

heckle

American  
[hek-uhl] / ˈhɛk əl /

verb (used with object)

heckled, heckling

  1. to harass (a public speaker, performer, etc.) with impertinent questions, gibes, or the like; badger.

    Synonyms:
    hound, hector, needle, provoke, bait

  2. hackle.

noun

  1. hackle.

heckle British  
/ ˈhɛkəl /

verb

  1. to interrupt (a public speaker, performer, etc) by comments, questions, or taunts

  2. Also: hackle.   hatchel.  (tr) to comb (hemp or flax)

"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

noun

  1. an instrument for combing flax or hemp

"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

Other Word Forms

  • heckler noun

Etymology

Origin of heckle

First recorded in 1275–1325; Middle English hekelen, variant of hechelen “to comb flax”; akin to hackle 1, hatchel

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.