irons
irons Lexical Profile
irons Game Scores & Validity
• verb
To smooth wrinkles from clothes, linens, or fabric using a heated iron (third-person singular simple present of iron).
"He always irons his dress shirts on Sunday evening before the workweek begins."
• noun
Plural form of iron: heated household appliances used to press clothes, or golf clubs with angled metal heads.
"The golfer practiced hitting balls with his mid-range irons before moving to the putting green."
Metal shackles, chains, or fetters fastened around the wrists or ankles of a prisoner to restrict movement.
"Historical records indicate that the captives were held in irons below deck during the long sea voyage."
In nautical usage (chiefly in the phrase 'in irons'), a state in which a sailing vessel is stalled head to wind and unable to maneuver onto either tack.
"A sudden shift in the breeze left the schooner in irons just outside the harbor entrance."
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English īren, of West Germanic origin and likely borrowed early from Celtic *īsarnom. The plural noun sense referring to fetters or shackles dates back to the Old English period.