manacle

American  

[man-uh-kuhl] / ˈmæn ə kəl /

noun

1. a shackle for the hand; handcuff.

2. Usually manacles. restraints; checks.

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verb (used with object)

manacled, manacling

1. to handcuff; fetter.

2. to hamper; restrain.

   He was manacled by his inhibitions.

manacle British  

/ ˈmænəkəl /

noun

1. (usually plural) a shackle, handcuff, or fetter, used to secure the hands of a prisoner, convict, etc

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verb

1. to put manacles on

2. to confine or constrain

Other Word Forms

• unmanacled
  adjective

Etymology

Origin of manacle

1275–1325; Middle English, variant of manicle < Middle French: handcuff < Latin manicula small hand, handle of a plow. See manus, -i-, -cle ¹

Explanation

If a police officer has to manacle your hands behind your back, you're in big trouble. That's just a fancy way of saying that you've been handcuffed. Used as a noun, manacle is a synonym for shackle, meaning "a metal chain or band, used to fasten someone’s hands or ankles together." You’re more likely to see the noun form of this word in its plural form manacles, since — like socks or mittens — a pair is usually required. (Quite unlike socks or mittens, manacles are not at all comfortable or pleasant to wear.) You can say that someone who has been restrained using manacles has been manacled.

Example Sentences

Just before World War II, the rock island of Manacle Shoal in the Caribbean is being tunneled to serve as an unsinkable ammunition ship.

From Time Magazine Archive

Manacle, man′a-kl, n. a handcuff.—v.t. to put manacles on: to restrain the use of the limbs or any of the natural powers.

From Chambers's Twentieth Century Dictionary (part 2 of 4: E-M) by Various

For my sake weare this, It is a Manacle of Loue, Ile place it Vpon this fayrest Prisoner    Imo.

From Cymbeline by Shakespeare, William

Warriner followed without delay, and when he was just past the Manacle rocks, the wind dropped.

From Miranda of the Balcony A Story by Mason, A. E. W. (Alfred Edward Woodle)