Word.ws English Dictionary

hatchel

Syllables: hatch·el/ˈhæt͡ʃəl/

hatchel noun: a comb used to separate flax fibers.

hatchel: a comb used to separate flax fibers
Image: Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons

Noun

hatchel (plural hatchels)

  1. A comb used to separate flax fibers.
    • 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.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...

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)

  1. (transitive) To separate (flax fibers) with a hatchel, or comb.

Forms of hatchel

Noun
pluralhatchels
alternative formhetchel
Verb
third-person singular presenthatchels
present participle UShatcheling
present participle UKhatchelling
past participle UShatcheled
past UShatcheled
past participle UKhatchelled
past UKhatchelled

Origin of hatchel

From Middle English hechele, of West Germanic origin, related to the root of hook. Doublet of hackle and heckle.

Words formed from hatchel

Words that rhyme with hatchel

Questions about hatchel

What does hatchel mean?
Hatchel means a comb used to separate flax fibers.
What part of speech is hatchel?
Hatchel can be a noun or a verb.
How do you pronounce hatchel?
Hatchel is pronounced /ˈhæt͡ʃəl/.
What is the plural of hatchel?
The plural of hatchel is hatchels.

Words near hatchel in the dictionary

  1. hatched out
  2. hatched up
  3. hatched, matched, and dispatched
  4. hatchek
  5. hatcheks
  6. hatchel
  7. hatcheled
  8. hatcheler
  9. hatchelers
  10. hatcheling
  11. Hatchell

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hatchel (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-hatchel.wav.

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