Webster's English Dictionary

Enter the word to look up:

hackle

1. hack.le \'hak-*l\ n [ME hakell; akin to OHG ha-ko hook - more at HOOK] 
   1: a comb or board with long metal teeth for dressing flax, hemp, of jute  
   2a: one of the long narrow feathers on the neck or saddle of a bird  2b: 
   the neck plumage of the male domestic fowl  pl  3a: erectile hairs along 
   the neck and back esp. of a dog  3b: TEMPER, DANDER  4a: an artificial 
   fishing fly made chiefly of the filaments of a cock's nec k feathers 4b: 
   filaments of cock feather projecting downward from the head of an artif 
   icial fly
2. hackle \'hak-(*-)lin\ \'hak-(*-)l*r\ vt or hack.ling 1: to comb out with 
   a hackle  2: to furnish with a hackle  - hack.ler n
3. hackle vt [freq. of 1hack] : to chop up or chop off roughly : HACK 
4. hackle n : fracture resulting in hackly edges