hackle

1
[ hak-uhl ]
See synonyms for hackle on Thesaurus.com
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.

  1. hackles,

    • the erectile hair on the back of an animal's neck: At the sound of footsteps, the dog raised her hackles.

    • anger, especially when aroused in a challenging or challenged manner: with one's hackles up.

  2. Angling.

    • the legs of an artificial fly made with feathers from the neck or saddle of a rooster or other such bird.

  3. a comb for dressing flax or hemp.

verb (used with object),hack·led, hack·ling.
  1. Angling. to equip with a hackle.

  2. to comb, as flax or hemp.

Idioms about hackle

  1. raise one's hackles, to arouse one's anger: Such officiousness always raises my hackles.

Origin of hackle

1
First recorded in 1450–1400; late Middle English hakel(e), hakle “animal's skin; bird's plumage”; see also heckle

Other words from hackle

  • hackler, noun

Other definitions for hackle (2 of 2)

hackle2
[ hak-uhl ]

verb (used with object),hack·led, hack·ling.
  1. to cut roughly; hack; mangle.

Origin of hackle

2
First recorded in 1560–70; hack1 + -le; cognate with Middle Dutch hakkelen

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

British Dictionary definitions for hackle

hackle

/ (ˈhækəl) /


noun
  1. any of the long slender feathers on the necks of poultry and other birds

  2. angling

    • parts of an artificial fly made from hackle feathers, representing the legs and sometimes the wings of a real fly

    • short for hackle fly

  1. a feathered ornament worn in the headdress of some British regiments

  2. a steel flax comb

verb(tr)
  1. to comb (flax) using a hackle

Origin of hackle

1
C15: hakell, probably from Old English; variant of heckle; see hatchel

Derived forms of hackle

  • hackler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012