fetter
noun
a chain or shackle placed on the feet.
had fettered
-
past perfectof fetter.past perfect
Used to express a completed action that took place before another specific past action occurred.
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.
Mullis instantly recognized he had solved a problem that had fettered genetic research for decades: the fact that DNA samples are often too meager to work with.
From Time Magazine Archive
They contained a sullen rebellion against the power which had fettered not only the girl's will but her whole nature, and which enraged her even while she yielded to it.
From Danira by E. Werner
Exhaustion had fettered his senses when he crawled into his bunk in the office camp.
From King Spruce, A Novel by Holman Day
He had determined to break finally with the political tradition which hampered him, and to set aside even the dread of Parliamentary weakness which had fettered him three years before.
From History of the English People, Volume VII The Revolution, 1683-1760; Modern England, 1760-1767 by John Richard Green
There was the man to whom the religion of the land and the law of the land, acting together in perfect harmony, had fettered her for life!
From Blind Love by Wilkie Collins
