English

Proper noun

Heck

1. A hardy breed of domestic cattle, the result of an attempt to breed back the extinct aurochs from modern aurochs-derived cattle in the 1920s and 1930s.

German

Etymology

From Middle Low German heck ‎(“wooden fencing”). The sense “back of a ship” because the position of the helmsman in the stern was enclosed by such a fence. Cognate to Dutch hek.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hɛk/

Noun

Heck n ‎(genitive Hecks or Heckes, plural Hecks or Hecke)

1. stern (of a ship)
2. tail (of an aeroplane)
3. back (of a car)

Usage notes

• The more common plural is Hecks.

Declension

Derived terms

• Heckklappe f ‎(“rear door”)

Antonyms

• (stern, tail): Bug m ‎(“bow”)
• (back of car): Front f ‎(“front”)

Proper noun

Heck m, f ‎(genitive Hecks)

1. A surname​.

Luxembourgish

Etymology

From Old High German heggia, from Proto-Germanic *hagjō. Cognate with German Hecke, Dutch heg, English hedge. The native Luxembourgish form is Ho.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /hæk/

Noun

Heck f ‎(plural Hecken)

1. bush, hedge

English

Interjection

heck

1. (euphemistic) ****.

   What the heck are you doing?

Translations

Noun

heck ‎(uncountable)

1. (euphemistic) ****.

   You can go to heck as far as I'm concerned.

Synonyms

• See under ****.

Derived terms

• oh my heck

Translations

Etymology 2

See hatch ‎(“a half door”).

Alternative forms

• hack

Noun

heck ‎(plural hecks)

1. The bolt or latch of a door.
2. A rack for cattle to feed at.
3. A door, especially one partly of latticework.

   (Can we find and add a quotation of Halliwell to this entry?)

4. A latticework contrivance for catching fish.
5. (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.
6. A bend or winding of a stream.

German

Verb

heck

1. Imperative singular of hecken.
2. (colloquial) First-person singular present of hecken.