Hatchel
Hatchel (-el; 277) , noun
[Old English hechele, hekele; akin to Dutch hekel, German hechel, Danish hegle, Swedish hakla, and prob. to English hook. See Hook, and compare 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.
Hatchel (-eld) , transitive verb
[Old English hechelen, hekelen; akin to Dutch hekelen, German hecheln, Danish hegle, Swedish hakla. 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. [Colloquial]