- hackle
- hacklehackle1 [hak′əl]n.[ME hechele (akin to Ger hechel) < OE * hæcel < IE base * keg-, a peg, hook > HACK1, HOOK: senses 2, 3, & 4, prob. infl. by dial. hackle, bird's plumage, animal's skin < OE hacele]1. a comblike instrument for separating the fibers of flax, hemp, etc.2.a) any of the long, slender feathers at the neck of a rooster, peacock, pigeon, etc.b) such feathers, collectively3. Fishinga) a tuft of feathers from a rooster's neck, used in making artificial fliesb) a fly made with a hackle4. [pl.] the hairs on a dog's neck and back that bristle, as when the dog is ready to fightvt.hackled, hackling1. to separate the fibers of (flax, hemp, etc.) with a hackle2. Rare to supply (a fishing fly) with a hackle——————get one's hackles upto become tense with anger; bristlehackle2 [hak′əl]vt., vi.hackled, hackling [freq. of HACK1]to cut roughly; hack; mangle
English World dictionary. V. Neufeldt. 2014.