hackle

  • noun 1 (hackles) hairs along an animal’s back which rise when it is angry or alarmed. 2 a long, narrow feather on the neck or saddle of a domestic cock or other bird. 3 a steel comb for dressing flax.

  — PHRASES make someone’s hackles rise make someone angry or indignant.

  — ORIGIN variant of obsolete hatchel, from Germanic.

Perform another search of the Compact Oxford English Dictionary

About this dictionary
The Compact Oxford English Dictionary of Current English contains 145,000 words, phrases, and definitions.
Find out more about Oxford's range of English dictionaries
Sign up for the AskOxford Word of the Day

Search the Little Oxford Dictionary of Quotations
Search the Concise Dictionary of First Names