heckle.
To question harshly in an attempt to find or reveal weaknesses.
Meaning & usage
To question harshly in an attempt to find or reveal weaknesses.
To insult, tease, make fun of or badger, especially during a comedy performance.
Promise that you won't heckle me after my performance.
To prepare (flax) for spinning, using special combs called hackles.
Where this word comes from
Transferred usage of Middle English hekelen (“to comb flax or hemp with a heckle”), from hekele (“a comb for flax or hemp”), from Middle Dutch hekelen (“to prickle, irritate”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakilōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakilōną, related to *hakô (“hook”). Doublet of hatchel. Related to hackle.
Alternative form of hackle (“tool for separating flax”).
The long shining feathers on a cock's neck.
A feather ornament in the full-dress bonnets of Highland regiments.
An rude interruption during a show, especially a comedy performance
The stand-up dealt well with the heckles from the crowd, replying with raucous banter to raise plenty of laughs.
Where this word comes from
Transferred usage of Middle English hekelen (“to comb flax or hemp with a heckle”), from hekele (“a comb for flax or hemp”), from Middle Dutch hekelen (“to prickle, irritate”), from Proto-West Germanic *hakilōn, from Proto-Germanic *hakilōną, related to *hakô (“hook”). Doublet of hatchel. Related to hackle.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.