Find your perfect word!

Definition hackle

Etymology

From Middle English hakle (compare the compound meshakele), from Old English hæcla, hacele, from Proto-Germanic *hakul?, equivalent to hack +‎ -le. Cognate with Dutch hekel, German Hechel.

Noun

hackle (plural hackles)

1. An instrument with steel pins used to comb out flax or hemp. [from 15th c.]
2. (usually now in the plural) One of the long, narrow feathers on the neck of birds, most noticeable on the rooster. [from 15th c.]
3. (fishing) A feather used to make a fishing lure or a fishing lure incorporating a feather. [from 17th c.]
4. (usually now 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. [from 19th c.]
5. A plate with rows of pointed needles used to blend or straighten hair. [from 20th c.]
6. A feather plume on some soldier's uniforms, especially the hat or helmet.
7. Any flimsy substance unspun, such as raw silk.

Verb

hackle (third-person singular simple present hackles, present participle hackling, simple past and past participle hackled)

1. To dress (flax or hemp) with a hackle; to prepare fibres of flax or hemp for spinning. [from 17th c.]
2. (transitive) To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel.
3. (archaic, transitive) To tear asunder; to break into pieces.

Results 141 Words with the letters HACKLE

You can also try words with the phrase HACKLE, words starting with the letters HACKLE, or words ending in the letters HACKLE.

Favorites Searches

Words… ending with q, starting with q, starting with qa, starting with qo, with two letters, starting with x, starting with j, ending with j,

Some random searches: Words with the letters PPZO, Words with the letters WDHFI, Words with the letters XMA, Words with the letters BLXE,