hackle

English

Wikipedia

Etymology

Old English *hacule, *hecile, from Proto-Germanic *hakilā. Cognate with Dutch hekel, German Hechel.

Pronunciation

• (UK) IPA: /ˈhækəl/
• (US) IPA: /ˈhækəl/
• Rhymes: -ækəl

Noun

hackle (plural hackles)

1. An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp. [from 15th c.]
2. (usually now, in the plural) One of the long, narrow feathers on the neck of birds, most noticeable on the cock. [from 15th c.]
3. (fishing) A feather used to make a fishing lure or a fishing lure incorporating a feather. [from 17th c.]
4. (usually now, in the plural) By extension (because the hackles of a cock are lifted when it's angry), the hair on the nape of the neck in dogs and other animals; also used figuratively for humans. [from 19th c.]

   When the dog got angry his hackles rose and he growled.

5. A plate with rows of pointed needles used to blend or straighten hair. [from 20th c.]
6. A feather plume on some soldier's uniforms, especially the hat or helmet.

Synonyms

• (instrument with pins): heckle, hatchel
• (plume on some soldier's uniforms): panache, plume

Verb

hackle (third-person singular simple present hackles, present participle hackling, simple past and past participle hackled)

1. To dress (flax or hemp) with a hackle; to prepare fibres of flax or hemp for spinning. [from 17th c.]
   • 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska 2005, p. 155:

     Then, with a smile that seemed to have all the freshness of the matutinal hour in it, she bent again to her work of hackling flax.