Sekirov Dictionary

hackle

/ˈhækəl/

noun 9
verb 3
forms 3
phrases 1

noun9

[in the plural] One of the long, narrow feathers on the neck of birds, most noticeable on the rooster.
•
[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.
- When the dog got angry, his hackles rose and he growled.
A feather used to make a fishing lure or a fishing lure incorporating a feather.
An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp.
A plate with rows of pointed needles used to blend or straighten hair.
A feather plume on some soldier's uniforms, especially the hat or helmet.
A type of jagged crack extending inwards from the broken surface of a fractured material.
•
(slang) Pluck; courage or energy.
- "COME ALONG YE GRASS-COMBERS, SHOW some hackle," David Ingram, striding ahead, turned back and called. — 1949
Any flimsy substance unspun, such as raw silk.

verb3

•
To dress (flax or hemp) with a hackle; to prepare fibres of flax or hemp for spinning.
- 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
To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel.
•
(no longer used) To tear asunder; to break into pieces.
- the other divisions of the kingdom being hackled and torn to pieces — 1790

forms

hackled · hackling · hackles

Phrases with hackle

hackle up
To have one's hackles raised; to become annoyed or frightened.

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