hackle.
An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp.
Meaning & usage
An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp.
One of the long, narrow feathers on the neck of birds, most noticeable on the rooster.
A feather used to make a fishing lure or a fishing lure incorporating a feather.
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 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.
A feather plume on some soldier's uniforms, especially the hat or helmet.
Any flimsy substance unspun, such as raw silk.
Pluck; courage or energy.
Where this word comes from
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.
To dress (flax or hemp) with a hackle; to prepare fibres of flax or hemp for spinning.
To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel.
To tear asunder; to break into pieces.
Where this word comes from
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.
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.
Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.