cackle

Meanings

1. The cry of a hen or goose, especially when laying an egg.
2. A laugh resembling the cry of a hen or goose.
3. Futile or excessively noisy talk.
4. A group of hyenas.

1. To make a sharp, broken noise or cry, as a hen or goose does.
2. To laugh with a broken sound similar to a hen's cry.
3. To talk in a silly manner; to prattle.
4. To pretend to rattle (dice) in one's hand while gripping them so that they maintain their orientation.

Etymology

From Middle English caclen, cakelen, perhaps from Old English *caclian, *cacolian, from Proto-West Germanic *kakulōn, *kakilōn (“to cackle, gaggle, yelp, snarl”), perhaps of imitative origin. By surface analysis, cack + -le. Compare Dutch kakelen (“to cackle”), German Low German kakeln (“to cackle”), German kakeln (“to blather”), Danish kagle (“to cackle”), Swedish kackla (“to cackle”). Compare also Old English cahhetan, ċeahhettan (“to laugh loudly; cackle”), German gackern (“to cackle”).