Green’s Dictionary of Slang

vi. to bluster, to swagger; vtr, to intimdate; thus hectoring n., adj.

1667		R. L’Estrange (trans.) Visions of Quevedo 307: There is no Valour, without Swearing, Quarrelling or Hectoring.
1672–80		‘The Downright Country-Man’ in Ebsworth Roxburghe Ballads (1891) VII:2 276: Who though they Hector with their swords, there is not one in ten / But has some pretty little Miss.
1677		R. L’Estrange Counterfeit Bridegroom III i: Half-witted Hectoring Blades are the only taking men with you buxome Widows – come away.
a.1680		Rochester ‘Against the Disturbers of the Pit’ Works (1721) 58: While ev’ry little Thing perks up so soon, / That at Fourteen it hectors up and down, / With the best Cheats, and the worst Whores in Town.
1687		T. Brown Saints in Uproar in Works (1760) I 74: All their hectoring and making this boisterous noise.
1700		T. Brown Amusements Serious and Comical in Works (1744) III 68: There is no valour like swearing, quarrelling, or hectoring.
1713		W. King York Spy 32: For fear the hectoring Bully [...] shou’d have peep’d into his Den.
1732		Progress of a Rake 20: That since he’d Whore, and Swear, and Hector, / He must forthwith depart the College.
1749		H. Fitzcotton (trans.) Homer’s Iliad 27: But he, must always bounce and hector, / And set up here for chief director.
1755		The Tricks of the Town Laid Open (4 edn) 69: A strong Party of Rogues and Bullies [...] ready upon Occasion to hector and insult you, to strip and murder you.
1772		Bridges Burlesque Homer (3rd edn) i: Harry the Eighth was a damn’d hectoring fellow.
1787		Harris’s List of Covent-Garden Ladies 20: ’Twas that which brought upon his kness / The hect’ring kill-cow Hercules.
1792		Sporting Mag. Dec. I 175/1: Poor master Bobby too, released from school, / Hectors at home, and early learns no rules.
1797		Bridges Burlesque Homer (4th edn) I 134: His sons are hect’ring roaring fellows.
1811		Lex. Balatronicum.
1818		W. Perry London Guide 77: She asks directly for money [...] Hectors and bullies, Not a little.
1827		J. Wight More Mornings in Bow St. 230: With respect to the irritating language complained of [...] the captain had ‘out-hectored Hector’.
1836		T. Haliburton Clockmaker I 187: The British navals had been a braggin and hectorin so long.
1871		M. Clarke ‘Money’ in Knocking About in N.Z. vii: He [...] becomes intoxicated at noonday, hectors it at Cleals, and discourses profoundly on life in London from the gallery of the Oriental Café.
1898		J. Fox Jr ‘The Passing of Abraham Shivers’ in Hell Fer Sartain and Other Stories n.p.: Didn’t take Abe long to git to braggin’ an’ drinkin’ an’ naggin’ an’ hectorin’ — everything, ’mos’, ’cept fightin’.
1905		Sporting Times 1 Apr. 1/3: ‘You’re all on the road to ’ell — all of yer!’ cried a shabby, hectoring Salvationist.