English▸ noun
1 (hackles) erectile hairs along the back of a dog or other animal that rise when it is angry or alarmed:
the dog continued to growl, its hackles raised.
2 (often hackles) a long, narrow feather on the neck or saddle of a domestic rooster or other bird.
▪ Fishing a feather wound around a fishing fly so that its filaments are splayed out.
▪ fly-fishing feathers collectively:
raising birds for hackle.
▪ a bunch of feathers in a military headdress.
▸ verb [with object] dress or comb with a hackle:
taking each section separately the student should lightly hackle the extreme ends.