coffle

American  

[kaw-fuhl, kof-uhl] / ˈkɔ fəl, ˈkɒf əl /

noun

1. a line of animals, prisoners, or slaves chained and driven along together.

---

verb (used with object)

coffled, coffling

1. to chain in a coffle.

coffle British  

/ ˈkɒfəl /

noun

1. (esp formerly) a line of slaves, beasts, etc, fastened together

---

Etymology

Origin of coffle

First recorded in 1790–1800; from Arabic qāfilah “caravan, company of travelers”

Example Sentences

These newcomers patrol the coast like abolitionist avengers, superpowering their way through every coffle and barracoon they encounter.

From New York Times • Jan. 7, 2019

And whenever Hersey needs an idea and can't find one�it happens all the time�he uses a big word instead: cangue, coffle, fulvous, hame, jingal, liripipe, m�tayer, panyar, purlin, psora, shroff, sycee.*

From Time Magazine Archive

I wouldn’t have known Sam had been sold if I hadn’t glanced out the window of Margaret Weylin’s room and seen the coffle.

From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler

All night, we walked as a coffle of the dead.

From "The Astonishing Life of Octavian Nothing, Traitor to the Nation, Volume II: The Kingdom on the Waves" by M.T. Anderson

She had not been permitted to approach the coffle, but she approached me.

From "Kindred" by Octavia Butler