heck

• POS: Interjection, Noun

CIDE DICTIONARY

heck, n. [See Hatch a half door.].

•  The bolt or latch of a door.  [1913 Webster]
•  A rack for cattle to feed at.  [1913 Webster]
•  A door, especially one partly of latticework; -- called also heck door.  Halliwell.  [1913 Webster]
•  A latticework contrivance for catching fish.  [1913 Webster]
•  An apparatus for separating the threads of warps into sets, as they are wound upon the reel from the bobbins, in a warping machine.  [1913 Webster]
•  A bend or winding of a stream.  [1913 Webster]

Half heck, the lower half of a door. -- Heck board, the loose board at the bottom or back of a cart. -- Heck box or Heck frame, that which carries the heck in warping.

heck, n. 

 hell; -- a euphemism. Used commonly in the phrase “What the heck”.  [PJC]

OXFORD DICTIONARY

heck, int. colloq. a mild exclamation of surprise or dismay.

Etymology

alt. f. HELL