Definition of "hatchel"

hatchel

noun
plural hatchels
1. A comb used to separate flax fibers.
  Quotations
  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 Broadway; London: 16 Little Britain), ‘Flax’, page 554
verb
third-person singular simple present hatchels, present participle hatchelling or hatcheling, simple past and past participle hatchelled or hatcheled
1. (transitive) To separate (flax fibers) with a hatchel, or comb.