Examples Word Origin
See more synonyms for hackle on Thesaurus.com 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. the neck plumage of a male bird, as the domestic rooster. hackles, the erectile hair on the back of an animal's neck: At the sound of footsteps, the dog raised her hackles. anger, especially when aroused in a challenging or challenged manner: with one's hackles up. Angling the legs of an artificial fly made with feathers from the neck or saddle of a rooster or other such bird. hackle fly .a comb for dressing flax or hemp. Show More
verb (used with object), hack·led, hack·ling. Angling to equip with a hackle. to comb, as flax or hemp. Show More
raise one's hackles , to arouse one's anger: Such officiousness always raises my hackles. Show More
Origin of hackle 1 1400–50; late Middle English hakell; see
heckle Related forms hack·ler , noun verb (used with object), hack·led, hack·ling. to cut roughly; hack; mangle. Show More
Origin of hackle 2 1570–80; hack1 +
-le ; cognate with
Middle Dutch hakkelen Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Related Words for hackle splinter ,
chop ,
nick ,
crack ,
hack ,
whack ,
cleave ,
cube ,
divide ,
mince ,
slash ,
bathe ,
scrub ,
soak ,
dredge ,
mop ,
flush ,
scrape ,
sweep ,
wash Examples from the Web for hackle Historical Examples of hackle There too is the hackle which is the old device of the De Brays.
After the first hackle , called a ruffler, six other finer hackle s were often used.
Kills well with hackle when the water is slightly discoloured.
The hackle was a board with long, sharp steel teeth set in it.
The body and hackle , when put on, should therefore appear as shown in Fig. 14.
British Dictionary definitions for hackle any of the long slender feathers on the necks of poultry and other birds angling parts of an artificial fly made from hackle feathers, representing the legs and sometimes the wings of a real fly short for hackle fly a feathered ornament worn in the headdress of some British regiments a steel flax comb Show More
to comb (flax) using a hackle Show More
Derived Forms hackler , noun Word Origin for hackle C15: hakell, probably from Old English; variant of heckle ; see hatchel
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
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Word Origin and History for hackle n. Old English hacele "cloak, mantle" (cf. Old High German hachul, Gothic hakuls "cloak;" Old Norse hekla "hooded frock"). Sense of "bird plumage" is first recorded early 15c., though this might be from unrelated Middle English hackle "flax comb" (see heckle (n.)) on supposed resemblance of comb to ruffled feathers. Metaphoric extension found in raise one's hackles (as a cock does when angry) is first recorded 1881.
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper
