hackle Meaning, Definition & Usage

  1. noun long slender feather on the necks of e.g. turkeys and pheasants
  2. verb comb with a heckle
    heckle; hatchel.
    • heckle hemp or flax

WordNet

Hac"kle noun
Etymology
See Heckle, and cf. Hatchel.
Definitions
  1. A comb for dressing flax, raw silk, etc.; a hatchel.
  2. Any flimsy substance unspun, as raw silk.
  3. One of the peculiar, long, narrow feathers on the neck of fowls, most noticeable on the cock, -- often used in making artificial flies; hence, any feather so used.
  4. An artificial fly for angling, made of feathers.
Hac"kle transitive verb
Wordforms
imperfect & past participle Hackled ; present participle & verbal noun Hackling
Definitions
  1. To separate, as the coarse part of flax or hemp from the fine, by drawing it through the teeth of a hackle or hatchel.
  2. To tear asunder; to break in pieces.
    The other divisions of the kingdom being hackled and torn to pieces. Burke.

Webster 1913