Dictionary

heck en · INTJ · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /hɛk/

Etymology

Late 19th century, originally dialectal northern English, from a euphemistic alteration of hell.

Meanings

1. (euphemistic) Hell.
   • Heck, what did I expect? It's too muddy out to go biking today.

Forms

Translations (12)

pt diacho (euphemism of hell) · sv Hälsingland (euphemism of hell) · fi hitto (euphemism of hell) · fi hemmetti (euphemism of hell) · mi ata (euphemism of hell) · it diamine (euphemism of hell) · cs safra (euphemism of hell) · bg по дяволите! (euphemism of hell) · fi helkkari (euphemism of hell) · es caray (euphemism of hell) · mi taukahore (euphemism of hell) · no helsike (euphemism of hell)

heck en · NOUN · etymology 1

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /hɛk/

Etymology

Late 19th century, originally dialectal northern English, from a euphemistic alteration of hell.

Meanings

1. (euphemistic, uncountable) Hell.
   • You can go to heck as far as I'm concerned.
   • "And the railway industry needs a heck of a lot of people to be up-skilled," notes Darroch. 2024 March 20, Richard Foster, “Vital experience in an open-air classroom”, in RAIL, number 1005, page 57:

Forms

Deriveds

hecking · heck yeah · who the heck · for the heck of it · heckin' · heck if I know · bleeding heck · why the heck · bloody heck · heck board · where the heck · heckin · to heck in a handbasket · the heck · heck yes · oh my heck · like heck · heck no · the heck out of · heckhound · heckuva · how the heck · when the heck · scare the heck out of · heckfire · hecka · snowball's chance in heck · blooming heck · go to heck · as heck · heck of a · what the heck · heck-care · when heck freezes over · heck knows · chuffing heck

Synonyms

under hell

Translations (4)

sv helsike (euphemism of hell) · fi hitto (euphemism of hell) · it diavolo (euphemism of hell) · da søren (euphemism of hell)

heck en · VERB · etymology 2

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /hɛk/

Etymology

Possibly supported by feck.

Meanings

1. (informal) to break, to destroy
2. (informal) to mess up

Forms

Deriveds

heck up

Synonyms

bork · fuck

heck en · NOUN · etymology 3

Pronunciation

• (Southern-England) audio
• /hɛk/

Etymology

See hatch (“a half door”).

Meanings

1. (informal) The bolt or latch of a door.
2. (informal) A rack for cattle to feed at.
3. (informal, obsolete) A door, especially one partly of latticework.
4. (informal) A latticework contrivance for catching fish.
5. (informal) An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.
6. (informal) A bend or winding of a stream.

Forms

Deriveds

at heck and manger

Synonyms

heck-box