Etymology

From Middle EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Middle English#HACKLECategory:English terms derived from Middle English#HACKLE hakle (compare the compound meshakele), from Old EnglishCategory:English terms inherited from Old English#HACKLECategory:English terms derived from Old English#HACKLE hæcla, hacele, from Proto-GermanicCategory:English terms inherited from Proto-Germanic#HACKLECategory:English terms derived from Proto-Germanic#HACKLE *hakulǭ, equivalent to hack +‎ -leCategory:English terms suffixed with -le#HACKLE. Cognate with Dutch hekel, German Hechel.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhækəl/, [ˈhækəl] ~ [ˈhækl̩]Category:English 2-syllable words#HACKLECategory:English terms with IPA pronunciation#HACKLE

  • Audio (Southern England):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#HACKLE

  • Audio (US):

    (file)

    Category:English terms with audio pronunciation#HACKLE
• Rhymes: -ækəlCategory:Rhymes:English/ækəl#HACKLECategory:Rhymes:English/ækəl/2 syllables#HACKLE
• Hyphenation: hack‧le

Noun

hackle (countable and uncountable, plural hackles)Category:English lemmas#HACKLECategory:English nouns#HACKLECategory:English uncountable nouns#HACKLECategory:English countable nouns#HACKLECategory:English countable nouns#HACKLECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#HACKLECategory:Pages with entries#HACKLECategory:Pages with 1 entry#HACKLE

1. An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp. [from 15th c.]

   Synonyms: heckle, hatchel

2. (usually now in the plural) One of the long, narrow feathers on the neck of birds, most noticeable on the rooster. [from 15th c.]
3. (fishingCategory:en:Fishing#HACKLE) 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 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.Category:English terms with usage examples#HACKLE

   • 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HACKLE

5. A type of jagged crack extending inwards from the broken surface of a fractured material.
6. A plate with rows of pointed needles used to blend or straighten hair. [from 20th c.]
7. A feather plume on some soldier's uniforms, especially the hat or helmet.

   Synonyms: panache, plume

8. Any flimsy substance unspun, such as raw silk.
9. (uncountableCategory:English uncountable nouns#HACKLE, slangCategory:English slang#HACKLE) Pluck; courage or energy.
   • 1949, Eric Philbrook Kelly, The Amazing Journey of David Ingram, page 11:

     "COME ALONG YE GRASS-COMBERS, SHOW some hackle," David Ingram, striding ahead, turned back and called.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HACKLE

Verb

hackle (third-person singular simple present hackles, present participle hackling, simple past and past participle hackled)Category:English lemmas#HACKLECategory:English verbs#HACKLECategory:English entries with incorrect language header#HACKLECategory:Pages with entries#HACKLECategory:Pages with 1 entry#HACKLE

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, published 2005, page 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.

     Category:English terms with quotations#HACKLE

2. (transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#HACKLE) To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel.
3. (archaicCategory:English terms with archaic senses#HACKLE, transitiveCategory:English transitive verbs#HACKLE) 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

     Category:English terms with quotations#HACKLE

Further reading

• hackle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
• hackle (disambiguation) on Wikipedia.Wikipedia

Anagrams

• Hackel, Kachel