Definitions
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
- transitive v. To try to embarrass and annoy (someone speaking or performing in public) by questions, gibes, or objections; badger.
- transitive v. To comb (flax or hemp) with a hatchel.
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
- v. To insult, tease, make fun of or badger.
from the GNU version of the Collaborative International Dictionary of English
- Same as hackle.
- transitive v. To interrogate, or ply with questions, esp. with severity or antagonism, as a candidate for the ministry.
- transitive v. To shout questions or jibes at (a public speaker), so as to disconcert him or render his talk ineffective.
from The Century Dictionary and Cyclopedia
- To comb, as flax or hemp; hatchel.
- To question, especially in a severe or antagonistic manner, as a parliamentary candidate in Great Britain.
- n. An instrument for cleaning, sorting, and straightening raw flax and hemp: same as hatchel.
from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.
- v. comb with a heckle
- n. a comb for separating flax fibers
- v. challenge aggressively
Etymologies
from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 4th Edition
from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License
Examples
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The heckle is the first chink in our civility towards our government institutions and our heritage that sets us apart from other nations.
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Republicans, meanwhile, rallied around Wilson, with many saying a planned resolution disapproving of Wilson's heckle is a petty partisan distraction from more serious issues.
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Then I got quite a minor heckle from the audience.
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The best thing to come out of the Presidents Cup was the spirit under which it was played, with nary a heckle from the gallery or a charge across any green.
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If you pay for my ticket I'm more than happy to heckle from the back row. (
kateelliott: Hawaii Books and Music Festival May 16-17, 2009
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A heckle is a challenge; whispered or invisible to you comments are gossip.
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The odd thing about this kind of heckle is that it has become almost obligatory.
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I did not "heckle" Attorney General Mukasey, and I did not disrupt the meeting, as those who watch the video of his speech on the Federalist Society's website will discover.
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And if I protest a law that I consider unjust or "heckle" a speaker who promotes a view that I disagree with, I do not suddenly gain the right to attempt to deny a speaker the right to the opposing view.
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He did not "heckle" as much as he enumerated specific types of fallacies on the part of Dr. Craig.
zeke commented on the word heckle
two cents
February 24, 2012