harl

[Etym. doubtful, but perhaps a corruption of hards (q. v.).] 1. The filaments of flax; any filamentous substance. "The general sort are wicker hives, made of privet, willow, or harl ." -Mortimer. 2. A barb of one of the feathers from a peacock's tail, used in making artificial flies for fly-fishing. harle, s . Zool.: A species of woodpecker having a red breast. Hăr'-lěch (ch guttural), s. [See def.] Geog.: Harlech in Merioneth, North Wales. Harlech-grits, s . pl . Geol.: A subdivision of the Longmynd rocks. Murchison deemed them non-fo iliferous. They are of Lower Silurian age. Lyell arranged them under the Lower Cam brian. Har-le-ian, a. [See def.) An epithet applied to an exceedingly large and valuable collection of manuscripts, books, ., formed by Harley, Earl of Oxford, and now in the British Museum.