hackle
1[ hak-uh l ]
/ ˈhæk əl /
noun
verb (used with object), hack·led, hack·ling.
Angling. to equip with a hackle.
to comb, as flax or hemp.
Nearby words
hackery, hackette, hackie, hacking, hacking jacket, hackle, hackle fly, hackleback, hackles, hackly, hackman
Idioms
raise one's hackles, to arouse one's anger: Such officiousness always raises my hackles.
Origin of hackle
1Related formshack·ler, noun
Definition for hackle (2 of 2)
hackle
2[ hak-uh l ]
/ ˈhæk əl /
verb (used with object), hack·led, hack·ling.
to cut roughly; hack; mangle.
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
Examples from the Web for hackle
British Dictionary definitions for hackle
hackle
/ (ˈhækəl) /
noun
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
verb (tr)
to comb (flax) using a hackle
See also hackles
Derived Formshackler, 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
hackle
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.
Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper