Definition

Noun: 1. A person who laughs or talks in a loud, sharp, and often foolish manner: This meaning focuses on the human behavior of making loud, raucous, or silly sounds, similar to a hen's cackle. 2. A hen that has just laid an egg and emits a shrill squawk: This is the literal, zoological meaning referring to the specific vocalization of a poultry bird. 3. Any of various insectivorous Old World birds with a loud incessant song; in some classifications considered members of the family Muscicapidae: This is a specific ornithological term for certain songbirds known for their persistent, chattering calls.

Usage and Examples

• Noun (Person):
  • The meeting was disrupted by a constant cackler in the back row who found everything amusing.
  • He's known as the office cackler because of his loud, distinctive laugh.
• Noun (Hen):
  • The farmer went to collect the egg after hearing the cackler in the coop.
• Noun (Bird):
  • Birdwatchers listened for the distinctive call of the cackler in the forest.

Advanced Usage and Notes

• The term is often used derogatorily or humorously when referring to a person. It implies a lack of restraint or sophistication in one's laughter or chatter.
• The primary sense for general use is the first definition (a loud person). The ornithological sense is specialized and less common in everyday language.

Variants and Related Words

• Cackle (verb/noun): To emit a loud, broken, and often shrill sound, like a hen; or the sound itself. This is the root word from which "cackler" is derived.
  • The witches began to cackle around the cauldron.
• Cackling (adjective/gerund): Describing the act or sound of cackling.
  • We heard cackling laughter from the next room.

Synonyms

• For a person: chatterbox, loudmouth, babbler.
• For a hen: clucking hen.
• For the bird: chatterer (informal, descriptive).

Idioms and Phrases

• No direct idioms use "cackler," but it is directly related to:
  • To cackle like a hen: To laugh or speak in a shrill, silly way.

    • She cackled like a hen at his terrible joke.

Noun

1. any of various insectivorous Old World birds with a loud incessant song; in some classifications considered members of the family Muscicapidae
2. a hen that has just laid an egg and emits a shrill squawk