bilboes

British

/ ˈbɪlbəʊz /

plural noun

a long iron bar with two sliding shackles, formerly used to confine the ankles of a prisoner

"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

Etymology

Origin of bilboes

C16: perhaps changed from _Bilbao

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Methought I lay Worse than the mutines in the bilboes.

From Project Gutenberg

I'll give him a passport to Winchester bilboes.

From Project Gutenberg

It is little to my credit that I took more interest in the fact that Bilbao used to supply Shakespeare's cronies with rapiers, under the name of "bilboes," than in statistics regarding those millions of tons of ore which its iron mines are now annually exporting to Great Britain.

From Project Gutenberg

The bilboes were the first engine of punishment in Boston, and were used until 1639, and perhaps much later.

From Project Gutenberg

The stocks soon superseded the bilboes and were near neighbors and amusement purveyors to the tavern.

From Project Gutenberg

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023