-hatche-

n. [ OE. hechele, hekele; akin to D. hekel, G. hechel, Dan. hegle, Sw. häkla, and prob. to E. hook. See Hook, and cf. Hackle, Heckle. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. [ imp. & p. p. Hatcheled or Hatchelled p. pr. & vb. n. Hatcheling or Hatchelling. ] [ OE. hechelen, hekelen; akin to D. hekelen, G. hecheln, Dan. hegle, Sw. häkla. See Hatchel, n. ] 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. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. To tease; to worry; to torment. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

n. One who uses a hatchel. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who hatches, or that which hatches; a hatching apparatus; an incubator. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. One who contrives or originates; a plotter. [ 1913 Webster ]

A great hatcher and breeder of business. Swift. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A house for hatching fish, etc. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. hachette, dim. of hache ax. See 1st Hatch, Hash. ] 1. A small ax with a short handle, to be used with one hand. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically, a tomahawk. [ 1913 Webster ]

Buried was the bloody hatchet. Longfellow. [ 1913 Webster ]

hatchet face, a thin, sharp face, like the edge of a hatchet; hence:
hatchet-faced, sharp-visaged. Dryden. --
To bury the hatchet, to make peace or become reconciled. --
To take up the hatchet, to make or declare war. The last two phrases are derived from the practice of the American Indians.

n. 1. A person hired to murder or physically attack another; a hit man. [ PJC ]

2. A person who deliberately tries to ruin the reputation of another, often unscrupulously, by slander or other malicious communication, often with a political motive, and sometimes for pay. [ PJC ]