hackle
English
Etymology
From Middle English hakle (compare the compound meshakele), from Old English hæcla, hacele, from Proto-Germanic *hakulǭ, equivalent to hack + -le. Cognate with Dutch hekel, German Hechel.
Pronunciation
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "UK" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈhækəl/
Audio (RP): (file)
- Lua error in Module:parameters at line 360: Parameter 1 should be a valid language or etymology language code; the value "GA" is not valid. See WT:LOL and WT:LOL/E. IPA(key): /ˈhækəl/
- Rhymes: -ækəl
Noun
hackle (plural hackles)
- An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp. [from 15th c.]
- (usually now in the plural) One of the long, narrow feathers on the neck of birds, most noticeable on the rooster. [from 15th c.]
- (fishing) A feather used to make a fishing lure or a fishing lure incorporating a feather. [from 17th c.]
- (usually now in the plural) By extension (because the hackles of a rooster are lifted when it is 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.
- 1976, Richard Dawkins, The Selfish Gene, Kindle edition, OUP Oxford, published 2016, page 101:
- Suppose it happened to be the case that the majority of individuals raised their hackles only when they were truly intending to go on for a very long time in the war of attrition. The obvious counterploy would evolve: individuals would give up immediately when an opponent raised his hackles.
- A type of jagged crack extending inwards from the broken surface of a fractured material.
- A plate with rows of pointed needles used to blend or straighten hair. [from 20th c.]
- A feather plume on some soldier's uniforms, especially the hat or helmet.
- Any flimsy substance unspun, such as raw silk.
Usage notes
In everyday speech, primarily used in phrase to raise someone's hackles (“to make one angry”), as in “It raises my hackles when you take that condescending tone”.
Translations
instrument with pins
|
feather on the neck of bird
|
fishing: feather or lure
hair on the nape of the neck of animals
|
type of jagged crack
implement to blend or straighten hair
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feather plume on soldier's uniform
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flimsy substance unspun
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Verb
hackle (third-person singular simple present hackles, present participle hackling, simple past and past participle hackled)
- 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.
- 1891, Mary Noailles Murfree, In the "Stranger People's" Country, Nebraska 2005, p. 155:
- (transitive) To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel.
- (archaic, transitive) To tear asunder; to break into pieces.
- 1790 November, Edmund Burke, Reflections on the Revolution in France, and on the Proceedings in Certain Societies in London Relative to that Event. […], London: […] J[ames] Dodsley, […], →OCLC:
- the other divisions of the kingdom being hackled and torn to pieces
Translations
dress flax or hemp
Further reading
- hackle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
- hackle (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Anagrams
Categories:
- English terms inherited from Middle English
- English terms derived from Middle English
- English terms inherited from Old English
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms suffixed with -le
- English 2-syllable words
- English terms with IPA pronunciation
- English terms with audio pronunciation
- Rhymes:English/ækəl
- Rhymes:English/ækəl/2 syllables
- English lemmas
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Fishing
- English terms with usage examples
- English terms with quotations
- English verbs
- English transitive verbs
- English terms with archaic senses
- en:Hair
- en:Flax