hackle

¹

[hak-uhl]

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.

verb (used with object)

hackled, hackling 

1. Angling.,  to equip with a hackle.

2. to comb, as flax or hemp.

hackle

²

[hak-uhl]

verb (used with object)

hackled, hackling 

1. to cut roughly; hack; mangle.

hackle

/ 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

verb

1. to comb (flax) using a hackle

Other Word Forms

• hackler noun

Word History and Origins

Origin of hackle¹

First recorded in 1450–1400; late Middle English hakel(e), hakle “animal's skin; bird's plumage”; heckle

Origin of hackle²

First recorded in 1560–70; hack ¹ + -le; cognate with Middle Dutch hakkelen

Word History and Origins

Origin of hackle¹

C15: hakell, probably from Old English; variant of _heckle ; see _hatchel

Idioms and Phrases

Idioms

1. raise one's hackles, to arouse one's anger.

   Such officiousness always raises my hackles.

Example Sentences

The effect of this deal on other companies also raises the hackles of economists and trade experts.

From Los Angeles Times

The success of high-speed rail in other countries raises our competitive hackles.

From Los Angeles Times

Among those he ministered to were two female prisoners, one of them a Muslim, which raised some hackles in the Vatican.

From Los Angeles Times

Scottish hackles had been raised enough by the suggestion that they - winners of the past four meetings - would be bullied out of the game.

From BBC

“If I were going to tell you one thing that really gets my hackles up, it’s a persistent weak layer,” said Mace, the avalanche forecaster.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• bathe 
• brush 
• cleanse 
• clear up 
• disinfect 
• dredge 
• dust 
• mop 
• pick 
• pick up 
• rinse 
• scrape 
• scrub 
• soak 
• spruce up 
• sweep 
• vacuum 
• wash 
• wipe