cack

/kæk/

cack noun: a squawk. Also the obsolete spelling of cake.

Noun (1)

cack (plural cacks)

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...1897, Frank Michler Chapman, Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America, page 380
- […]for on occasions he gives utterance to an entirely uncharacteristic series of cacking notes, and even mounts high in the tree to sing a hesitating medley of the same unmusical cacks, broken whistled calls, and attempted trills.1916, Frank Michler Chapman, Handbook of Birds of Eastern North America, page 493
A discordant note.
(informal) A cackling goose (Branta hutchinsii)
- […] cacks, " the whitefronts or specklebellies in the Sacramento Valley1950, Field and Stream - Volume 55, page 42
- White geese aren't supposed to be such good eating and most of the gunners want "specs" or "cacks" or Hutchins or Canadas but I'll eat snow geese any time you don't want 'em.2012, Van Campen Heilner, A Book on Duck Shooting

Verb (1)

cack (third-person singular simple present cacks, present participle cacking, simple past and past participle cacked)

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.1990, P. H. Liotta, Learning to Fly, page 32
- While the Gyrfalcon cacked loudly on each stoop, the owl did not scream.2000, Minnesota Ornithologists′ Union, The Loon, Volumes 72-74, page 37
(brass instrument technique) To incorrectly play a note by hitting a partial other than the one intended.
- The bugler hopes not to cack during his performance.
(Australian, slang) To laugh.
- I had to cack when you fell down the stairs.

Verb (2)

cack (third-person singular simple present cacks, present participle cacking, simple past and past participle cacked)

(intransitive) To defecate.
- 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...2014, 'Rock Rampant', Mauve Flush, page 245
(transitive) To defecate (on); to shit.
- ‘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.’2005, M. J. Simpson, Hitchhiker: A Biography of Douglas Adams, page 322
- […] through the open door, now directly below his feet, and nearly cacked his breeks when the stretcher skidded slightly on the shiny metal floor.2010, Tony Doyle, Flying at the Edge: 20 Years of Front-Line and Display Flying in the Cold War Era, Pen and Sword, →ISBN, page 356
Synonyms:

defecate
(transitive) To excrete (something) by defecation.
- 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[…]2016, Nicholas Blincoe, Jello Salad, Canelo, →ISBN
(US, slang) To kill.
- He tried to shoot me, so I cacked him.
- Stay, by your leave I will put in a distinguo; your goose has cacked.1923, Béroalde de Verville, Fantastic Tales; Or, The Way to Attain
Synonyms:

kill
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...1893, John Cleland, Memoirs of a Woman of Pleasure (Fanny Hill), page 282

Noun (2)

cack (countable and uncountable, plural cacks)

An act of defecation.
- 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...2014, 'Rock Rampant', Mauve Flush, page 245
(slang) Excrement.
- 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.2013, Nick Barlay, Hooky Gear
- " And have bird cack on their heads , " Jacques agreed cheerfully, to Ash's relief.2016, Patricia Rice, Theory of Magic
Synonyms:

caca
(slang) Rubbish; anything worthless.
- '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.'2009, Monica Ali, In The Kitchen, page 425
- At first, he genuinely didn't recognize her without all that high-gloss cack on her face.2013, Gemma Files, “Nanny Grey”, in Ellen Datlow, editor, The Best Horror of the Year

Noun (3)

cack (uncountable)

(slang) Penis.

Noun (4)

cack (plural cacks)

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...1903 December 23, John C. Thompson, “Deceiving Customers”, in Shoe Retailer and Boots and Shoes Weekly, volume 48, page 81
- Nathan D. Chase, a well-to-do boss who accumulated enough wealth to retire in 1850 at middle age, observed that the prices for making shoes remained low from 1837 to 1842: 4 cents for red-bottomed cacks, 8 cents for women's turned slippers, 10 cents for thick-heeled runrounds, 12 cents for set...1981, Paul Gustaf Faler, Mechanics and Manufacturers in the Early Industrial Revolution, page 91
(slang) A young child.
- 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!1908, Hugh J. Hughes, “A Boy's Day”, in Harper's Weekly, volume 52, page 52
- Seniors bully cacks because they were bullied as cacks. Old boys who were miserable here send their sons here to make them miserable. It's called tradition.2000, Anthony Akerman, Dark Outsider: Three Plays, page 123

Also used as

cack is also the obsolete spelling of cake.

cack meaning in Pashto and Persian

Examples of cack in a sentence

When birds approach their cliffs in the spring, they often emit a series of rapidly repeated cacks, or notes of varying pitches.2014, Stanley H. Anderson, John R. Squires, The Prairie Falcon, page 4:
Peckle snitted them off and cacked at them.2007, Turk Allcott, Time Leak, page 63:
Another distinction she reported: my brother once cacked his pants and responded with the words, "It will never happen again" – and it didn't, […]2010, Julian Barnes, Nothing to be Frightened Of, Vintage Canada, →ISBN, page 68:
Just to let me know, to keep me on the move, to make me cack my pants for now an most likely for ever.2013, Nick Barlay, Hooky Gear:

Synonyms of cack

Forms of cack

Noun
plural	cacks
Verb
third-person singular present	cacks
present participle	cacking
past participle	cacked
past	cacked

Origin of cack

Onomatopoeia; see cackle.

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”).

From cock.

Words formed from cack

Words that rhyme with cack

48 more rhymesFewer rhymes

Questions about cack

What does cack mean?: Cack means a squawk.
What is cack in Pashto?: Cack in Pashto is ککه (kaká). See Cack meaning in Pashto.
How do you use cack in a sentence?: When birds approach their cliffs in the spring, they often emit a series of rapidly repeated cacks, or notes of varying pitches.
What part of speech is cack?: Cack can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce cack?: Cack is pronounced /kæk/.
What is the plural of cack?: The plural of cack is cacks.

Words near cack in the dictionary

Adapted from Wiktionary: cack (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

Last updated: 2026-09-02

Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: EN-AU ck1 cack.ogg.

Cite this entry: “cack.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/cack. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.