hatchel

== English == === Alternative forms === hackle heckle hetchel === Etymology === From Middle English hechele, of West Germanic origin, related to the root of hook. Compare hackle. === Pronunciation === Rhymes: -ætʃəl === Noun === hatchel (plural hatchels) A comb used to separate flax fibers. 1864, George Ripley and Charles Anderson Dana [eds.], The New American Cyclopædia: A Popular Dictionary of General Knowledge VII: “Edward–Fueros” (New York: D. Appleton and Company, 443 & 445 Broadway; London: 16 Little Britain), ‘Flax’, page 554 One end of the bundle being hatchelled, it is turned round, and the other is treated in the same way; and the process is repeated on finer hatchels. === Verb === hatchel (third-person singular simple present hatchels, present participle (US) hatcheling or (UK) hatchelling, simple past and past participle (US) hatcheled or (UK) hatchelled) (transitive) To separate (flax fibers) with a hatchel, or comb. ==== Derived terms ====