Heckle
/ˈhɛkəl/noun
To interrupt or challenge a speaker with persistent questions, comments, or jeers.
Did you know?The modern sense of heckle developed metaphorically from the disruptive, snagging action of a flax-comb, with Scottish political usage helping popularize it in the nineteenth century.
Etymological Timeline
Proto-Germanic
PGmc
*hakilō / *hakōn
“A hooked or toothed implement; the reconstructed root is associated with hooks and comb-like tools.”
Middle Dutch
Middle Dutch
hekel
“A hackle or flax-comb used to separate and straighten fibers.”
Middle High German
Middle High German
hechel
“A toothed instrument for dressing flax or hemp.”
14th Century
Middle English
hekel
“A flax-comb or hackle used in textile preparation.”
16th–17th Century
Scots/English
heckle
“To comb or dress flax with a hackle.”
19th Century
English
heckle
“To interrupt or challenge a public speaker, probably through metaphorical extension from the comb’s snagging action.”
Modern English
English
heckle
“To trouble a speaker with persistent interruptions, questions, or jeers.”