heckle
verb /ˈhekl/
/ˈhekl/
[transitive, intransitive]Verb Forms
| present simple I / you / we / they heckle | /ˈhekl/ /ˈhekl/ |
| he / she / it heckles | /ˈheklz/ /ˈheklz/ |
| past simple heckled | /ˈhekld/ /ˈhekld/ |
| past participle heckled | /ˈhekld/ /ˈhekld/ |
| -ing form heckling | /ˈheklɪŋ/ /ˈheklɪŋ/ |
- heckle (somebody) to interrupt a speaker at a public meeting by shouting out questions or rude remarks synonym barrack
- He was booed and heckled throughout his speech.
Word OriginMiddle English (originally referring to the act of splitting and straightening out the fibres of flax or hemp): from heckle ‘flax comb’, a northern and eastern form of hackle. The sense ‘interrupt (a public speaker) with aggressive comments’ arose in the mid 17th cent.; for the development in sense, compare with tease.