Standard Lemma guide

cackle-bladder

noun · 1 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

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  • /ˈkækəlˌblædə(ɹ)/
  • Australia: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.

1

noun

Meaning 1

A bladder containing (real or fake) blood, used to fake someone's death or injury, as in espionage or confidence tricks where a person is made to think that he is an accessory to murder.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Examples

  • 1951 June 16, Racket Squad (television review), in The Billboard, page 8, It tells you how they work on the mark's own larcenous cravings for a killing, how they build him up to betting his entire stake — and then "put the chill on" via the "cackle bladder" routine, a prop murder, so named because originally the "corpse" bit on a chicken bladder and drenched himself in chicken blood.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

History

Etymology

From cackle + bladder, because originally chicken blood was used.