Hatchel

Part of speech: noun (n.)

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.

Part of speech: verb (v.)

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. [Colloq.]