Hypertext Webster Gateway: "hatchel"
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hatchel \Hatch"el\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. {Hatcheled} or
{Hatchelled}; p. pr. & vb. n. {Hatcheling} or {Hatchelling}.]
[OE. hechelen, hekelen; akin to D. hekelen, G. hecheln, Dan.
hegle, Sw. h["a]kla. See {Hatchel}, n.]
1. To draw through the teeth of a hatchel, as flax or hemp,
so as to separate the coarse and refuse parts from the
fine, fibrous parts.
2. To tease; to worry; to torment. [Colloq.]
From Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913) (web1913)
Hatchel \Hatch"el\ (?; 277), n. [OE. hechele, hekele; akin to D.
hekel, G. hechel, Dan. hegle, Sw. h["a]kla, and prob. to E.
hook. See {Hook}, and cf. {Hackle}, {Heckle}.]
An instrument with long iron teeth set in a board, for
cleansing flax or hemp from the tow, hards, or coarse part; a
kind of large comb; -- called also {hackle} and {heckle}.
From WordNet (r) 1.7 (wn)
hatchel
v : comb with a heckle; "heckle hemp or flax" [syn: {heckle}, {hackle}]
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