How to Use hackle in a Sentence

hackle

noun
  • The mere mention of the word even seemed to raise Yelich's hackles.
    Todd Rosiak, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel, 18 Feb. 2020
  • If the past is a predictor, that one will raise hackles.
    Tamar Haspel, Vox, 24 July 2018
  • The failure to release the name of the drug, however, raised hackles.
    Ed Silverman, STAT, 28 Feb. 2020
  • Parking in the lot is cheap, and street parking free, so finding a spot for Spot won’t raise your hackles.
    Los Angeles Times, 27 Sep. 2019
  • The ambassador acknowledged that Trump had raised hackles in the UK.
    James Masters, CNN, 12 Dec. 2017
  • So who is Nasser, and why might his new role raise the hackles of climate-conscious investors?
    Anna Cooban, CNN, 18 July 2023
  • But the demo — which amounted to a series of extremely high-tech crank calls — raised a lot of hackles.
    Kevin Roose, New York Times, 11 May 2018
  • The latter can be used with or without standard hackle.
    Bill May, Baltimore Sun, 25 Sep. 2022
  • Munjal is one of many tech entrepreneurs to ping the book world’s radar—and raise its collective hackles—in recent months.
    Elizabeth Minkel, WIRED, 20 July 2023
  • When that raised hackles, the right thing to do was apologize for overstepping — and thereafter bite your tongue.
    Carolyn Hax, Washington Post, 12 Mar. 2023
  • It's caused hackles on all sides of the political fence, or both sides of the political fence.
    Fox News, 8 May 2018
  • Former Vice President Joe Biden raised hackles on the left over the past week with his own public yearnings for a return to the manners of years past.
    Gregory Krieg, CNN, 10 Oct. 2017
  • Some anglers were furious; others took to eBay with their spare hackles, selling them for ten times the buying price.
    Alexandra Marvar, New York Times, 14 Oct. 2019
  • Another speech, in October of that same year, raised more hackles.
    David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2017
  • Fire burst from its open mouth, its eyes glowed with a smouldering glare, its muzzle and hackles and dewlap were outlined in flickering flame.
    Charles P. Pierce, Esquire, 23 Feb. 2018
  • Atlanta's 23-7 loss to the Patriots was its third in a row, and one play in particular against New England has the Falcons fans' hackles up.
    Mark Inabinett, AL.com, 25 Oct. 2017
  • The massive influx over the years of these refugees has strained resources and raised the hackles of local governments and populations.
    Ishaan Tharoor, Washington Post, 18 Apr. 2018
  • Doing that raised hackles in Royal Oak, although a project to build luxury homes on an old city golf course is going ahead.
    Bill Laitner, Detroit Free Press, 11 Sep. 2017
  • That kind of talk raises the hackles in the southern end of the San Joaquin Valley, where oil is an economic and cultural force crucial to the lives of thousands of people.
    Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2019
  • The ways young children play can also raise animals’ hackles.
    Alla Katsnelson, New York Times, 15 Apr. 2020
  • The use of both red and yellow hackles is striking; the pattern’s flat silver tinsel adds flash and attractiveness.
    Mike Valla, Field & Stream, 14 May 2020
  • Their support may be put to the test in the coming year, as Wilcox talks about pursuing strategies that raise hackles among some educators.
    Ann Doss Helms, charlotteobserver, 13 July 2018
  • Everything fluttered down to silence, Ted felt the dog’s hackles stiffen under his hand, felt his own frame freeze to tautness.
    James McNamara, New York Times, 8 Sep. 2017
  • When Twitter came up in conversation, so did my hackles.
    Shaunacy Ferro, The Cut, 26 June 2018
  • In Taupin’s work, the flag is often tattered, torn or otherwise maligned, raising the hackles of detractors.
    Jordan Riefe, The Hollywood Reporter, 7 June 2019
  • In my experience the best flies for this time of year are often trout flies like size 12 beetles and bushy dry flies on top and beadhead soft hackle and wooly buggers subsurface.
    Bill May, baltimoresun.com/maryland/carroll, 4 July 2021
  • Tom calls Shiv to suss out the enemy camp’s ceiling, and Shiv—her hackles raised any time her separated husband moves his lips—barks out the number $12 billion.
    Lauren Puckett-Pope, ELLE, 26 Mar. 2023
  • At the same time, the Biden administration, just like its two predecessors and Congress, is doing just enough to raise hackles in Beijing.
    Shay Khatiri, National Review, 12 Sep. 2023
  • The moose, awkwardly marooned on a narrow patch of dirt, was visibly agitated, its ears drawn back and hackles raised.
    Anna Callaghan, Outside Online, 21 May 2018
  • For that reason, his team argues, the location is less likely than others to raise residents’ hackles.
    Dana Rubinstein, New York Times, 23 June 2023

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hackle.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Last Updated: