fetter
a chain or shackle placed on the feet.
Usually fetters. anything that confines or restrains: Boredom puts fetters upon the imagination.
to put fetters upon.
to confine; restrain.
Origin of fetter
1Other words from fetter
- fet·ter·er, noun
- fet·ter·less, adjective
Words Nearby fetter
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use fetter in a sentence
I wonder how it comes,” he asked, “that all these strangers are so quick afoot, and we must drag about our fetter?
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis StevensonHe was a grave lad; he had no mind to dance himself; he wore his fetter manfully, and tended his ulcer without complaint.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis StevensonHe thought to leave the fetter where it lay, but when he turned to go, his mind was otherwise.
The Works of Robert Louis Stevenson, Volume XXI | Robert Louis StevensonWhen politics possess the soul, they fetter it with contemptible pride, paltry ambitions.
The conquest of Rome | Matilde SeraoTaking this fetter to the wolf, they bade him try his strength on it.
The Elder Eddas of Saemund Sigfusson; and the Younger Eddas of Snorre Sturleson | Saemund Sigfusson and Snorre Sturleson
British Dictionary definitions for fetter
/ (ˈfɛtə) /
(often plural) a chain or bond fastened round the ankle; shackle
(usually plural) a check or restraint: in fetters
to restrict or confine
to bind in fetters
Origin of fetter
1Derived forms of fetter
- fetterer, noun
- fetterless, adjective
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
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