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
  • The failure to release the name of the drug, however, raised hackles.
    — Ed Silverman, STAT, 28 Feb. 2020
  • The ways young children play can also raise animals’ hackles.
    — Alla Katsnelson, New York Times, 15 Apr. 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
  • 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
  • So who is Nasser, and why might his new role raise the hackles of climate-conscious investors?
    — Anna Cooban, CNN, 18 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
  • 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
  • Another speech, in October of that same year, raised more hackles.
    — David A. Graham, The Atlantic, 22 Sep. 2017
  • It's caused hackles on all sides of the political fence, or both sides of the political fence.
    — Fox News, 8 May 2018
  • 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
  • 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
  • Nothing raises the hackles of a prosecutor more.
    — Joseph Buczek, CBS News, 3 Apr. 2026
  • 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
  • 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
  • The price raised hackles among fans and politicians alike, with many calling on FIFA to foot the bill.
    — Evan Simko-Bednarski, New York Daily News, 8 May 2026
  • Even an old grain silo near the former Nickel Plate train station raised a few hackles when it was demolished.
    — John Tuohy, IndyStar, 14 Aug. 2025
  • The tongue scan and iris scan—both purported to identify chronic conditions—raised my skeptic’s hackles.
    — Peter J. Frank, Robb Report, 25 Sep. 2025
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • 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
  • Matty's hackles are up as the man, a former addict like her late daughter who has been out of Alfie's life for over a decade, wants to meet her grandson.
    — Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 13 Oct. 2025
  • The process is much like booking directly on a website for yourself, but is sure to put hackles up about privacy and security.
    — Andrew Williams, WIRED, 25 Feb. 2023
  • 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
  • The dog paces to and fro, hackles bristling, snapping at the empty air, its head turning one way, then the other, as if aware of invisible foes in the valley around them.
    — Maggie O’Farrell, Literary Hub, 2 June 2026
  • The White House’s cherry-picking is also raising hackles among some economists.
    — New York Times, 8 Jan. 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
  • The hackling process involved repeatedly drawing the fibers through a block of sharp metal spikes, looking like a giant’s hairbrush, called a hackle.
    — Literary Hub, 12 Aug. 2025
  • But the effort to return them to the wild raised many hackles in a state where resource development, such as mining, is politically paramount.
    — Douglas Main, Newsweek, 23 Sep. 2014

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.

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