51Թ

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View synonyms for

hackle

1

[ hak-uhl ]

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.
  3. hackles,
    1. the erectile hair on the back of an animal's neck:

      At the sound of footsteps, the dog raised her hackles.

    2. anger, especially when aroused in a challenging or challenged manner:

      with one's hackles up.

  4. Angling.
    1. the legs of an artificial fly made with feathers from the neck or saddle of a rooster or other such bird.
  5. a comb for dressing flax or hemp.


verb (used with object)

hackled, hackling.
  1. Angling. to equip with a hackle.
  2. to comb, as flax or hemp.

hackle

2

[ hak-uhl ]

verb (used with object)

hackled, hackling.
  1. to cut roughly; hack; mangle.

hackle

/ ˈæə /

noun

  1. any of the long slender feathers on the necks of poultry and other birds
  2. angling
    1. parts of an artificial fly made from hackle feathers, representing the legs and sometimes the wings of a real fly
    2. short for hackle fly
  3. a feathered ornament worn in the headdress of some British regiments
  4. a steel flax comb
“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

verb

  1. to comb (flax) using a hackle
“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
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Derived Forms

  • ˈ󲹳, noun
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Other 51Թ Forms

  • 󲹳l noun
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of hackle1

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

Origin of hackle2

First recorded in 1560–70; hack 1 + -le; cognate with Middle Dutch hakkelen
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51Թ History and Origins

Origin of hackle1

C15: hakell, probably from Old English; variant of heckle ; see hatchel
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Idioms and Phrases

  1. raise one's hackles, to arouse one's anger:

    Such officiousness always raises my hackles.

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Example Sentences

Examples have not been reviewed.

Scottish hackles had been raised enough by the suggestion that they - winners of the past four meetings - would be bullied out of the game.

From

“If I were going to tell you one thing that really gets my hackles up, it’s a persistent weak layer,” said Mace, the avalanche forecaster.

From

Adopting a fact checking system inspired by an Elon-Musk-owned platform was always going to raise hackles.

From

His current nominee, former Florida attorney general Pam Bondi, isn't raising as many hackles, despite her threats to arrest prosecutors for enforcing the law against those who attempted to overturn the 2020 election.

From

Feline lovers in Kenya’s capital have been twitching over the threat of what is perceived as a “cat tax” - and any talk of tax in the East African nation raises the hackles.

From

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Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.

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