Definition

1. Noun:

   • A loud, sharp, often unpleasant laugh: A laugh that is broken, high-pitched, and suggestive of the sound a hen makes.
   • Noisy, trivial, or foolish talk: Idle chatter or gossip.
   • The characteristic short, sharp sound a hen makes: The sound made by a hen, especially after laying an egg.

2. Verb:

   • To laugh in a loud, sharp, broken manner: To emit a cackle.
   • To make the sharp, broken cry of a hen: To squawk shrilly.
   • To talk or chatter noisily and at length: To engage in loud, trivial, or gossipy conversation.

Usage Examples

• Noun:

  • Her loud cackle could be heard across the room.
  • I'm tired of their endless cackle about office gossip.
  • The farmer heard the cackle of a hen from the coop.

• Verb:

  • The witches in the story would cackle around their cauldron.
  • The hens began to cackle at dawn.
  • The group of friends would cackle for hours about nothing in particular.

Advanced Usage

• "Cut the cackle!": An informal, imperative phrase meaning "Stop the idle chatter!" or "Get to the point!"
  • We're running out of time, so cut the cackle and tell us the plan.

Variants and Related Words

• Cackler (noun): A person or bird that cackles.
  • The old woman was known as the village cackler.

Synonyms

• Noun (for laugh): Guffaw, howl, screech.
• Noun (for talk): Chatter, prattle, babble.
• Verb (to laugh): Guffaw, screech, howl.
• Verb (to talk): Chatter, prattle, jabber.

Related Phrasal Verbs/Idioms

(This word does not commonly form standard phrasal verbs. Its idiomatic use is covered in "Advanced Usage.")

Noun

1. a loud laugh suggestive of a hen's cackle
2. noisy talk
3. the sound made by a hen after laying an egg

Verb

1. emit a loud, unpleasant kind of laughing
2. squawk shrilly and loudly, characteristic of hens
3. talk or utter in a cackling manner
   • The women cackled when they saw the movie star step out of the limousine