The New International Encyclopædia/Heddle

HEDDLE, or HEALD (of Scandinavian origin: cf. Icel. hafald, thrum for holding the weft). In weaving, the threads of the warp are so arranged that at each passage of the shuttle backward and forward, a certain number of the warp threads are raised up, and the remainder drawn down; this is done with vertical threads, cords, or wires, with a small loop in the middle through which the warp thread is passed, there being one of the vertical threads for each horizontal or warp thread. These threads or wires are known as heddles or healds. See Loom.