raise (one's) hackles
To greatly irritate, annoy, or aggravate one. The disrespect he showed our professor during class raised my hackles so badly that I had to go take a walk to calm down. The politician has a gift for raising his opponents' hackles during debates.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
raise one's hackles
Make one very angry, as in That really raised my hackles when he pitched straight at the batter's head. Hackles are the hairs on the back of an animal's neck, which stick up when the animal feels fearful or angry. [Late 1800s]
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
raise one's hackles, to
To arouse one’s anger. The hackles are the hair on the back of an animal’s neck that sticks straight up with excitement, fear, or other strong emotion. “With the hackles up,” meaning on the point of fighting, was transferred to humans in the late nineteenth century. “I almost saw the hackles of a good old squire rise,” wrote Edward Pennell-Elmhirst (The Cream of Leicestershire, 1883).
The Dictionary of Clichés by Christine Ammer Copyright © 2013 by Christine Ammer