“Shackles” is a form of
shackle
UK /ˈʃækl̩/ · US /ˈʃæk(ə)l/ noun, verb, proper noun
Forms shackles shackling shackled shacklest shackledst shackleth
- noun (usually in the plural) A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain. “The prisoner lay in shackles in his gloomy cell.”
- noun A U-shaped piece of metal secured with a bolt or pin across the ends, or a hinged metal loop secured with a quick-release locking pin mechanism, used for attaching things together while allowing for some degree of movement; a clevis.
- noun Part of a padlock that consists of a loop of metal (round or square in cross section) that encompasses what is being secured by the lock.
- noun A hook, ring, or other device for connecting, holding, lifting, etc.; specifically (nautical), a small incomplete ring secured with a bolt across the ends, used to connect lengths of cable or chain together, or to keep a porthole closed.
- noun (agriculture) Synonym of hobble or hopple (“a short strap tied between the legs of a horse, allowing it to wander a short distance but not to run off”).
- noun (rail transport) A link for connecting railroad cars; a draglink, drawbar, or drawlink.
- noun (obsolete, rare) A fetter-like band worn on an appendage as an ornament; an anklet, an armlet, a bracelet, a wristlet.
- noun (figurative, usually in the plural) A restraint on one's action, activity, or progress.
- verb To place (a person or animal) in shackles (noun etymology 1 sense 1); to immobilize or restrain using shackles.
- verb To connect or couple (something) to another thing using a shackle (noun etymology 1 sense 1.1.1, etymology 1 sense 1.1.3, etc.).
- verb To provide (something) with a shackle.
- verb To inhibit or restrain the ability, action, activity, or progress of (someone or something); to render (someone or something) incapable or ineffectual. “This law would effectively shackle its opposition.”
- verb (chemistry, obsolete) To combine (a substance) with another substance.
- verb (intransitive, reflexive) Of two things: to connect or couple together.
- noun A person who is idle or lazy; an idler.
- noun (dice games) A dice game; also, an event at which tickets are sold for chances to be drawn to win prizes; a raffle.
- verb To rattle or shake (something).
- verb To put (something) into disorder; specifically (agriculture), to cause (standing stalks of corn) to fall over.
- verb (intransitive) Often followed by about: to be idle or lazy; to avoid work.
- proper noun A surname
Synonyms
fetter hobble hopple dragbar beshackle cuff enshackle handcuff manacle bind hamshackle tie bond hamper trammel pinion
Antonyms
uncuff unfetter unhandcuff unmanacle unshackle free liberate unbind untie
Etymology
From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), possibly from *skakaną (“to shake; to swing; to escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to shake; to stir”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary because *skeg-, *skek- lack the meaning of attaching or fastening.
Etymology 1 sense 3 (“length of cable or chain equal to 12½ or 15 fathoms”) derives from the original distance between two shackles (etymology 1 sense 1.1.3) connecting lengths of cable or chain together.
* Danish skagle (“carriage trace”)
* Dutch schakel (“clasp; link; shackle”)
* German Schäckel (“shackle”)
* Icelandic skökull (“carriage pole”)
* Swedish skakel (“loose shaft of a carriage”)
From Middle English schakelen, schakkylen (“(also figurative) to put (someone) in shackles; to protect (legs) with greaves”), from shakel, schakkyl, schakle (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs).
From shack (“variant of shake”), shake (verb) + -le (suffix forming agent nouns; frequentative suffix forming verbs).
Webster’s 1913
- noun Stubble. [Prov. Eng.] Pegge.
- noun Something which confines the legs or arms so as to prevent their free motion; specifically, a ring or band inclosing the ankle or wrist, and fastened to a similar shackle on the other leg or arm, or to something else, by a chain or a strap; a gyve; a fetter.
- noun Hence, that which checks or prevents free action.
- verb To tie or confine the limbs of, so as to prevent free motion; to bind with shackles; to fetter; to chain.
Etymology [Generally used in the plural.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “shackle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details