shackle

[ shak-uhl ]
See synonyms for: shackleshackledshackles on Thesaurus.com

noun
  1. a ring or other fastening, as of iron, for securing the wrist, ankle, etc.; fetter.

  2. a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.

  1. the U-shaped bar of a padlock, one end of which is pivoted or sliding, the other end of which can be released, as for passing through a staple, and then fastened, as for securing a hasp.

  2. any of various fastening or coupling devices.

  3. Often shackles. anything that serves to prevent freedom of procedure, thought, etc.

verb (used with object),shack·led, shack·ling.
  1. to put a shackle or shackles on; confine or restrain by a shackle or shackles.

  2. to fasten or couple with a shackle.

  1. to restrain in action, thought, etc., as by restrictions; restrict the freedom of.

Origin of shackle

1
before 1000; (noun) Middle English schakle, schakyl(le); Old English sceacel fetter; cognate with Low German schakel hobble, Old Norse skǫkull wagon pole, (v.) late Middle English schaklyn, derivative of the noun

Other words for shackle

Opposites for shackle

Other words from shackle

  • shackler, noun

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use shackle in a sentence

  • Some detainees were forced to walk around naked, or shackled with their hands above their heads.

  • And those who once more shackled his wrists ostentatiously wiped their hands up and down the wrappings on their thighs afterwards.

    Star Born | Andre Norton
  • Accordingly 574 the officers shackled him and pinioning him, haled him along in irons and entered the city with him.

  • Whereupon the Sultan bade sundry of his eunuchs and officers go straightway fetch him bound and shackled.

  • Then a consuming anger flared in him,—anger against the past by which he was still shackled.

    The Hidden Places | Bertrand W. Sinclair
  • We rode madly along it, so that, riding shackled and woman-fashion, I had hard work to keep my seat.

    The Yeoman Adventurer | George W. Gough

British Dictionary definitions for shackle

shackle

/ (ˈʃækəl) /


noun
  1. (often plural) a metal ring or fastening, usually part of a pair used to secure a person's wrists or ankles; fetter

  2. (often plural) anything that confines or restricts freedom

  1. a rope, tether, or hobble for an animal

  2. a U-shaped bracket, the open end of which is closed by a bolt (shackle pin), used for securing ropes, chains, etc

verb(tr)
  1. to confine with or as if with shackles

  2. to fasten or connect with a shackle

Origin of shackle

1
Old English sceacel; related to Dutch schakel, Old Norse skokull wagon pole, Latin cingere to surround

Derived forms of shackle

  • shackler, noun

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012