heddle

[ hed-l ]

/ ˈhɛd l /

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noun

one of the sets of vertical cords or wires in a loom, forming the principal part of the harness that guides the warp threads.

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Origin of heddle

1505–15; perhaps representing Old English *hefedl, a metathetic variant of hefeld (Middle English helde, ModE heald), cognate with Old Saxon hevild; akin to Old Norse hafald

Words nearby heddle

Hector, hectostere, Hecuba, he'd, Hedda Gabler, heddle, hedenbergite, heder, hedera, hedge, hedge apple

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2022

How to use heddle in a sentence

Each thread or group of threads of the warp passes through an opening (eye) of a heddle.
Textiles|William H. Dooley
The next movement of the heddle frame crossed the threads over the filling and made a new opening for the return of the shuttle.
Textiles and Clothing|Kate Heintz Watson
K, a strong wooden ruler, connecting the front heddle with its treddle.
A Dictionary of Arts, Manufactures and Mines|Andrew Ure
These tape-looms are a truly ancient form of appliance for the hand-weaving of narrow bands,—a heddle-frame.
Home Life in Colonial Days|Alice Morse Earle

The Greek loom may have been furnished with a heddle but the drawings are not clear on this point.
Ancient Egyptian and Greek Looms|H. Ling Roth

British Dictionary definitions for heddle

heddle

/ (ˈhɛdəl) /

noun

one of a set of frames of vertical wires on a loom, each wire having an eye through which a warp thread can be passed

Word Origin for heddle

Old English hefeld chain; related to Old Norse hafald, Middle Low German hevelte

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012