To worry, to annoy. A variant of “hatchel” and “heckle,” originally used with reference to dressing hemp.
1800. They have harrowed the feelings of the people by gag-bills, stamp-acts, and land taxes, and hatchelled them with prosecutions, fines, and imprisonments.—The Aurora, Phila., Oct. 20.
1851. The clouds hung low, and their floating skirts seemed to be pierced and hetcheled by the trees.—S. Judd, ‘Margaret,’ i. 134.
1878. She’ll hetchel the old woman mortally, I be afraid.—Rose T. Cooke, ‘Cal Culver and the Devil,’ Harper’s Mag., lvii. 576/2 (Sept.).
[1908. Whether American woman suffragists would do well to adopt the English methods of interrupting meetings and “heckling” the speakers, is open to grave doubt. In England they are used to that sort of thing. Heckling is a well-recognized, long-established institution.—N.Y. Ev. Post, Oct. 26.]
