heck

== English == === Alternative forms === hecc === Pronunciation === IPA(key): /hɛk/ Rhymes: -ɛk === Etymology 1 === Late 19th century, originally dialectal northern English, from a euphemistic alteration of hell. ==== Interjection ==== heck (euphemistic) Hell. ===== Translations ===== ==== Noun ==== heck (uncountable) (euphemistic) Hell. ===== Usage notes ===== Heck usually only replaces hell in idiomatic expressions or as a generic intensifier or vulgarity. It is only rarely, and for intentionally jocular effect, used as a euphemism for the actual concept of hell. ===== Synonyms ===== See under hell. ===== Derived terms ===== ===== Translations ===== === Etymology 2 === Blend of to heck (“destroyed, messed up”) +‎ fuck, possibly supported by feck. ==== Verb ==== heck (third-person singular simple present hecks, present participle hecking, simple past and past participle hecked) (informal) to break, to destroy Synonyms: fuck, bork to mess up ===== Derived terms ===== heck up === Etymology 3 === See hatch (“a half door”). ==== Alternative forms ==== hack ==== Noun ==== heck (plural hecks) The bolt or latch of a door. A rack for cattle to feed at. (obsolete) A door, especially one partly of latticework. A latticework contrivance for catching fish. (weaving) An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine. Synonym: heck-box A bend or winding of a stream. ===== Derived terms ===== at heck and manger === References === === Further reading === “heck”, in Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary, Springfield, Mass.: G. & C. Merriam, 1913, →OCLC. William Dwight Whitney, Benjamin E[li] Smith, editors (1911), “heck”, in The Century Dictionary […], New York, N.Y.: The Century Co., →OCLC. “heck”, in OneLook Dictionary Search. === Anagrams === chek == German == === Pronunciation === === Verb === heck singular imperative of hecken (colloquial) first-person singular present of hecken == Middle English == === Noun === heck alternative form of hacche