Hĕck, n.

n. [Also hack, Scot. heck, hack, hake, A-S. hāca, bar, hūcce, hook, crook; Icel. haki, hook; O. Sw. hūck, manger, crib.]

1. The division from the side of a fire, in the form of a passage, in old houses. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
2. A door; especially one not closely paneled, but partly of lattice-work; — called, also, heck-door. [Prov. Eng.] Halliwell.
3. The bar or latch of a door. [Prov. Eng.]
4. A rack for cattle to feed at. [Prov. Eng.]
5. An instrument for catching fish, made in the form of lattice-work or a grating. Chambers.
6. An apparatus through which the threads of warps pass from the bobbins to the warping mill, in weaving, and by means of which they are separated into sets for the heddles.
7. The bend or winding of a river. [Prov. Eng.]

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