hackle

Plural: hackles

Noun

• long slender feather on the necks of e.g. turkeys and pheasants
• 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.
• 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.

Verb

Verb Forms: hackled, hackling, hackles

• To comb out fiber or to irritate and annoy someone.
• comb with a heckle
• 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.

Examples

• Don’t let a bad tile rack HACKLE your spirits; a good play is always around the corner.
• When the dog got angry, his hackles rose and he growled.

Synonyms

hatchel, heckle, panache, plume

Anagrams of hackle