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 were chains that had fettered a patient slave—but she was a slave no longer.

From The Disturbing Charm by Ruck, Berta

The exception was not of much general importance, and the Act removed the principal disabilities which had fettered the mind of the Universities no less than they had hindered the education of Nonconformists.

From A Short History of English Liberalism by Blease, Walter Lyon

That shyness and dread of him which, since the "accident," had been felt by all about him, had fettered her also.

From Success and How He Won It by Werner, E. T. C. (Edward Theodore Chalmers)

It struck him, all at once, that this was a new Joanne—a Joanne who, at least for a brief spell, had broken the bondage of oppression and fear that had fettered her.

From The Hunted Woman by Curwood, James Oliver