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.

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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.

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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

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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

Royal Coachman; second, Gray Hackle with yellow body.

From The Determined Angler and the Brook Trout an anthological volume of trout fishing, trout histories, trout lore, trout resorts, and trout tackle by Bradford, Charles Barker

A Grackle with a Hackle, A ticklish one to tackle A tacklish one to tickle ...

From A Tree with a Bird in it: a symposium of contemporary american poets on being shown a pear-tree on which sat a grackle by Widdemer, Margaret

At the other end is the Hackle Island Hotel, always popular with a certain class of moneyed people.”

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

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