View source for heck

{{also|Heck}}
==English==
{{wikipedia}}

===Alternative forms===
* {{alt|en|hecc}}

===Pronunciation===
* {{IPA|en|/hɛk/}}
** {{audio|en|LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-heck.wav|a=Southern England}}
* {{rhymes|en|ɛk|s=1}}

===Etymology 1===
Late 19th century, originally dialectal northern English, from a euphemistic alteration of {{m|en|hell}}.<ref>{{R:OED}}</ref><ref>{{R:Wright|volume=3|page=125}}</ref>

====Interjection====
{{en-interj}}

# {{senseid|en|Hell}}{{lb|en|euphemistic}} [[hell|Hell]].
#: {{ux|en|'''Heck''', what did I expect?  It's too muddy out to go biking today.}}

=====Translations=====
{{trans-top|euphemism of hell}}
* Bulgarian: {{t|bg|по дяволите!}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|hitto}}, {{t|fi|hemmetti}}, {{t+|fi|helkkari}}
* Italian: {{t|it|diamine}}
* Maori: {{t+|mi|ata}}, {{t|mi|taukahore}}
* Norwegian: {{t|no|helsike}}
* Portuguese: {{t+|pt|diacho}}
* Spanish: {{t+|es|caray}}
* Swedish: {{t+|sv|Hälsingland}}
{{trans-bottom}}

====Noun====
{{en-noun|-}}

# {{lb|en|euphemistic}} [[hell|Hell]].
#: {{ux|en|You can go to '''heck''' as far as I'm concerned.}}
#* {{quote-journal|en|date=2024 March 20|author=Richard Foster|title=Vital experience in an open-air classroom|journal=RAIL|issue=1005|page=57|text="And the railway industry needs a '''heck''' of a lot of people to be up-skilled," notes Darroch.}}

=====Usage notes=====
* ''Heck'' usually only replaces ''hell'' in idiomatic expressions or as a generic intensifier or vulgarity. It is only rarely, and for intentionally jocular effect, used as a euphemism for the actual concept of hell.

=====Synonyms=====
* See under {{m|en|hell}}.

=====Derived terms=====
{{der3|en|heck yeah|oh my heck|bleeding heck|bloody heck|blooming heck|for the heck of it|heck board|heck no|heck of a|heck-care|like heck|snowball's chance in heck|to heck in a handbasket|when heck freezes over|heckin|heckin'|hecking|heckuva|hecka|heck knows|as heck|who the heck|where the heck|what the heck|heck yes|scare the heck out of|how the heck|why the heck|when the heck|the heck|heck if I know}}

=====Translations=====
{{trans-top|euphemism of hell}}
* Danish: {{t|da|søren}}
* Finnish: {{t+|fi|hitto}}
* Italian: {{t+|it|diavolo|m}}
* Swedish: {{t+|sv|helsike}}
{{trans-bottom}}

===Etymology 2===
{{blend|en|to heck|t1=destroyed, messed up|fuck}}, possibly supported by {{m|en|feck}}.

====Verb====
{{en-verb}} {{tlb|en|informal}}

# {{senseid|en|break}}to [[break]], to [[destroy]]
#: {{syn|en|fuck|bork}}
# to [[mess up]]

=====Derived terms=====
* {{l|en|heck up}}

===Etymology 3===
See {{m|en|hatch||a half door}}.

====Alternative forms====
* {{l|en|hack}}

====Noun====
{{en-noun}}

# The [[bolt]] or [[latch]] of a [[door]].
# A [[rack]] for [[cattle]] to [[feed]] at.
# {{lb|en|obsolete}} A door, especially one partly of [[latticework]].
# A latticework contrivance for catching [[fish]].
# {{lb|en|weaving}} An apparatus for separating the threads of [[warp]]s into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the [[bobbin]]s, in a warping machine.
# A [[bend]] or [[winding]] of a [[stream]].

=====Derived terms=====
* {{l|en|at heck and manger}}

===References===
<references/>

===Further reading===
* {{R:Webster 1913}}
* {{R:Century 1911}}
* {{R:OneLook}}

===Anagrams===
* {{anagrams|en|a=cehk|chek}}

{{cln|en|minced oaths}}

==German==

===Pronunciation===
* {{audio|de|De-heck.ogg}}

===Verb===
{{head|de|verb form}}

# {{verb form of|de|hecken||s|imp}}
# {{lb|de|colloquial}} {{verb form of|de|hecken||1|s|pres}}

==Middle English==

===Noun===
{{head|enm|noun}}

# {{alt form|enm|hacche}}