What does "cack" mean?
A squawk.
Cack
/kæk/ noun, verb, slang
noun, verb, slang ·Common ·High school level
Meaning at a glance
- Primary sense: A squawk.
- Grammar: cack is listed as noun, verb, slang.
- Nearest alternatives: defecate, defecation, feces, kill.
- Usage evidence: Of course, so excitable a nature must find other than physical outlet for his irrepressible energy, and he accompanies his movements by more or less appropriate notes: scolding cacks, clinking, metallic rattles, musical trills, tree-toadlike krrrings – in fact, he possesses an almost endless vocabulary .
How to use "cack"
- Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
- Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "cack" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
- Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.
Meaning check
- Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
- Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
- Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
- Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?
Source and review context
This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "cack" in a final draft.
If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.
Before you rely on this definition
Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "cack" as the right word for your sentence.
If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "cack" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.
Compare nearby meanings
- Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
- Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
- Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
- Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.
Definition decision workflow
1. Identify the role
Check whether "cack" is acting as noun, verb, slang in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.
2. Test the nearest option
Compare it with "defecate" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.
3. Confirm with context
Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.
Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.
Final meaning check
Before publishing a sentence with "cack", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.
When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A squawk.
"Of course, so excitable a nature must find other than physical outlet for his irrepressible energy, and he accompanies his movements by more or less appropriate notes: scolding cacks, clinking, metallic rattles, musical trills, tree-toadlike krrrings – in fact, he possesses an almost endless vocabulary ."
- 2 An act of defecation. countable, uncountable
"Can't cack... won't cack, My bum hole has gone on strike, I've huffed and puffed, grunted and groaned, And squeezed as hard as I liked, I've leant myself backwards, leant to the front, Raised my knees and then put them back, I've gripped the seat and pushed like hell, But still...I can't have a cack."
- 3 Penis. slang, uncountable
- 4 An inexpensive boot or shoe made in the 19th or early 20th century for a baby or young child.
"To one handling shoes, from cacks to footwear for the oldest men and women , and taking into consideration the trade as it is handled at large not simply in our city , the universally ac- knowledged metropolis of the world , I desire to say that to my mind there is more fakism used to sell shoes than to sell any other necessary article."
- 5 obsolete spelling of cake (any sense) alt-of, obsolete
"Eye colours for dying blew, almost as good as Indico, made vp in round cacks or pieces, and packed one hundred cacks in a Fardell, worth the Fardell, fiftie to sixtie."
Show 5 more definitions
- 6 A discordant note.
- 7 Excrement. countable, slang, uncountable
"I dive back in along the cobbles, step over the cack, wall an fence closin me down, barbed wire left, razor wire right, follow by puttied-in broken glass, spike rails an stuck-on warnings about dogs."
- 8 A young child. slang
"Ma is calling breakfast. The little cacks are up. Billy, who is only six –and you are eight! –Billy tried to wash himself and got some soap in his eyes. Funny that little cacks like that always get soap in their eyes!"
- 9 A cackling goose (Branta hutchinsii) informal
"[…] cacks, " the whitefronts or specklebellies in the Sacramento Valley"
- 10 Rubbish; anything worthless. countable, slang, uncountable
"'See that' said the man, pointing with his fork at a trace of soemthing on the rim, 'that's not been washed properly. That's a bit of old cack on there.'"
Verb
- 1 To squawk.
"Still fluffy with down, she often attacks the other birds, cacking and flashing her wings, or threatens me as I watch through the tiny peephole of the near box."
- 2 To defecate. intransitive
"Can't cack... won't cack, My bum hole has gone on strike, I've huffed and puffed, grunted and groaned, And squeezed as hard as I liked, I've leant myself backwards, leant to the front, Raised my knees and then put them back, I've gripped the seat and pushed like hell, But still...I can't have a cack."
- 3 To incorrectly play a note by hitting a partial other than the one intended.
"The bugler hopes not to cack during his performance."
- 4 To defecate (on); to shit. transitive
"‘I asked him once if he got nervous before doing it,’ says Astin, ‘and he said he was absolutely cacking himself before going on stage, but as soon as he got there it was fantastic.’"
- 5 To laugh. Australian, slang
"I had to cack when you fell down the stairs."
Show 3 more definitions
- 6 To excrete (something) by defecation. transitive
"He smelled the ferrous oxide of blood and the farmyard stench of shit. He'd cacked it. He was empty and he'd cacked his load. The brushman came over, lisping slightly[…]"
- 7 To kill. US, slang
"He tried to shoot me, so I cacked him."
- 8 To cheat.
"Thus was I then to lose my faithfull preceptress, as did the philosophers of the town the white crow of her profession: for besides that she never ransacked her customers, whose taste too she ever studiously consulted, she never cacked her pupils with unconscionable extortions, nor ever put their hard earnings, as she called them, under the contribution of poundage."
Example
"Of course, so excitable a nature must find other than physical outlet for his irrepressible energy, and he accompanies his movements by more or less appropriate notes: scolding cacks, clinking, metallic rattles, musical trills, tree-toadlike krrrings – in fact, he possesses an almost endless vocabulary ."
Common questions
What is a synonym for "cack"?
Common synonyms include: defecate, defecation, feces, kill, penis.
How do you use "cack" in a sentence?
Of course, so excitable a nature must find other than physical outlet for his irrepressible energy, and he accompanies his movements by more or less appropriate notes: scolding cacks, clinking, metallic rattles, musical trills, tree-toadlike krrrings – in fact, he possesses an almost endless vocabulary .
How do you pronounce "cack"?
Pronounced /kæk/.
Etymology
Etymology 1
Onomatopoeia; see cackle.
Etymology 2
From Middle English cakken, from Old English *cacian, from Old English cac (“dung; excrement”), from Latin cacāre (“excrete feces”). Cognate with English caca. Compare Dutch kakken (“to defecate”), German kacken (“to relieve oneself; defecate”), Latin cacō (“defecate”) (see there for more); compare also Irish cac (“feces, excrement”).
Etymology 3
From cock.
Etymology 4
Of unknown origin. Possibly from Scots cack (“soft shoe”).