harle

A gardener uses a harle to smooth the gravel path.

Definition

1. Verb (Scottish dialect):

   • To drag or trail along the ground: "harle" means to pull something heavily or to move while dragging one's feet or an object.
   • To walk with a dragging motion: It describes a slow, shuffling gait where the feet are not lifted properly.

2. Verb (Scottish dialect):

   • To lay with lime and gravel: In construction or masonry, "harle" refers to the act of applying a mixture of lime and small stones to a surface, such as a wall, for coating or finishing.

3. Noun (Scottish dialect):

   • Alternative spelling of 'herl': "harle" can refer to a filament or strand of feather, especially from a bird, used in fly-fishing or decoration.

Usage Examples

• Verb (dragging):

  • The old man would harle his heavy sack across the field. (He dragged the sack along the ground.)
  • She harled her feet through the mud after the long walk. (She walked with a dragging motion.)

• Verb (laying with lime):

  • The workers will harle the cottage wall next week to protect it from rain. (They will apply a lime-and-gravel coating.)

• Noun (feather strand):

  • The fisherman tied a harle from a peacock feather onto his lure. (He used a filament of feather.)

Advanced Usage

• "to be harled" (passive construction): to be covered with a harling mixture.
  • The old stone church was harled to preserve its surface. (It was coated with lime and gravel.)

Variants and Related Words

• Harling (n): the process or result of applying a harle mixture to a building.

  • The harling on the barn is cracking after the frost. (The lime-gravel coating is damaged.)

• Herl (n): the main variant spelling, referring to a feather strand.

  • He used herl from a cock pheasant for his fishing flies. (A filament of feather.)

Synonyms

• For the verb (dragging): drag, haul, trail, shuffle.
• For the verb (laying with lime): plaster, coat, render.
• For the noun (feather strand): filament, barb, strand.

Phrasal Verbs

• Harle in: to drag something into a place.

  • The farmer harled in the bales of hay. (He dragged them into the barn.)

• Harle out: to drag something out of a location.

  • They harled out the old furniture from the shed. (They dragged it out.)

Related Idioms

• No common idioms are associated with "harle" due to its rare and dialectal nature.