hackle

¹ American  

[hak-uhl] / ˈhæk əl /

noun

1. one of the long, slender feathers on the neck or saddle of certain birds, as the domestic rooster, much used in making artificial flies for anglers.

2. the neck plumage of a male bird, as the domestic rooster.

3. hackles,

   1. the erectile hair on the back of an animal's neck.

      At the sound of footsteps, the dog raised her hackles.

   2. anger, especially when aroused in a challenging or challenged manner.

      with one's hackles up.

4. Angling.

   1. the legs of an artificial fly made with feathers from the neck or saddle of a rooster or other such bird.

   2. hackle fly.

5. a comb for dressing flax or hemp.

---

verb (used with object)

hackled, hackling

1. Angling. to equip with a hackle.

2. to comb, as flax or hemp.

idioms

1. raise one's hackles, to arouse one's anger.

   Such officiousness always raises my hackles.

hackle ² American  

[hak-uhl] / ˈhæk əl /

verb (used with object)

hackled, hackling

1. to cut roughly; hack; mangle.

---

hackle British  

/ ˈhækəl /

noun

1. any of the long slender feathers on the necks of poultry and other birds

2. angling

   1. parts of an artificial fly made from hackle feathers, representing the legs and sometimes the wings of a real fly

   2. short for hackle fly

3. a feathered ornament worn in the headdress of some British regiments

4. a steel flax comb

---

verb

1. to comb (flax) using a hackle

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• hackler
  noun

Etymology

Origin of hackle¹

First recorded in 1450–1400; late Middle English hakel(e), hakle “animal's skin; bird's plumage”; see also heckle

Origin of hackle²

First recorded in 1560–70; hack ¹ + -le; cognate with Middle Dutch hakkelen

Example Sentences

The Hackle siblings and Moore were last seen alive on March 11, 2019.

From Washington Times • Feb. 6, 2021

Trouble is The Howling is too insistent on parading its enshocklopedic knowledge to raise Hackle One on any moviegoer's neck.

From Time Magazine Archive

His flies, as befitted these amber-brown, tumultuous northern streams, were large and conspicuous—a Parmacheenie Belle for the tail fly, with a Montreal and a Red Hackle for the drops.

From Hoof and Claw by Roberts, Charles George Douglas, Sir

For February, little red brow Palmer flies, the Plain Hackle, the Silver Hackle, the Gold Hackle, the great Dun, the great blew Dun, the dark brown.

From The School of Recreation (1696 edition) Or a Guide to the Most Ingenious Exercises of Hunting, Riding, Racing, Fireworks, Military Discipline, The Science of Defence by Howlett, Robert

Well, Hackle, or Station Island, is the one she meant.

From The Campfire Girls on Station Island or, The Wireless from the Steam Yacht by Penrose, Margaret

Related Words

• bathe
• brush
• cleanse
• clear up
• disinfect
• dredge
• dust
• mop
• pick
• pick up
• rinse
• scrape
• scrub
• soak
• spruce up
• sweep
• vacuum
• wash
• wipe