Word.ws English Dictionary

henpecking

henpecking is the present participle and gerund of henpeck.

Meaning of henpeck

Verb

henpeck (third-person singular simple present henpecks, present participle henpecking, simple past and past participle henpecked)

  1. (chiefly by a wife) To nag persistently.
    • But—Oh! ye lords of ladies intellectual, Inform us truly, have they not hen-peck'd you all?1819 July 15, [Lord Byron], Don Juan, London: […] Thomas Davison, […], →OCLC, canto I, (please specify the stanza number)
  2. To peck or peck at another bird.
    • Mrs Allsop and her bar-blue brother travelled well together in good times, but after they ducketed she would chase him from niche to niche, henpecking him while Monte tried to collar them and collect their rings.1982, Paul Radley, My Blue-Checker Corker and Me, Sydney: Fontana/Collins, page 104

See all 3 meanings of henpeck

Noun

henpecking (countable and uncountable, plural henpeckings)

  1. An instance of somebody being henpecked; nagging.

Forms of henpecking

pluralhenpeckings

Questions about henpecking

What does henpecking mean?
Henpecking means an instance of somebody being henpecked; nagging.
What is henpecking the present participle and gerund of?
Henpecking is the present participle and gerund of henpeck.
What part of speech is henpecking?
Henpecking is a noun.
What is the plural of henpecking?
The plural of henpecking is henpeckings.

Words near henpecking in the dictionary

  1. henpeck
  2. henpecked
  3. henpecker
  4. henpeckers
  5. henpeckery
  6. henpecking
  7. henpeckings
  8. henpecks
  9. henpen
  10. henpens
  11. Henquin

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: henpecking (page history and authors); henpeck (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.

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