shackle
shackle Lexical Profile
shackle Game Scores & Validity
• noun
A pair of fetters or metal rings connected by a chain or bar, fastened around a prisoner's wrists or ankles to restrict movement (usually used in the plural).
"The historical museum displayed rusted iron shackles recovered from a nineteenth-century prison ship."
Something that confines, restrains, or impedes freedom of thought or action (usually used in the plural).
"The new artistic movement sought to break free from the shackles of rigid academic convention."
A U-shaped metal link closed at the open end with a removable pin or bolt, used for connecting chains, ropes, or rigging, or the curved movable loop of a padlock.
"The sailor secured the heavy anchor chain to the buoy using a galvanized steel shackle."
• verb
To chain or bind someone with metal fetters to prevent escape or movement.
"Bailiffs were instructed to shackle the defendant before escorting him into the courtroom."
To restrain, limit, or hamper the freedom, progress, or effectiveness of someone or something.
"Excessive bureaucratic regulations can shackle small businesses and stifle innovation."
To fasten or couple chains, cables, or equipment together with a metal shackle.
"The deckhands worked quickly to shackle the towing cable to the barge."
• Rhymes for shackle
Word Origin & Etymology
From Old English sceacul ('fetter, bond, or chain link'), derived from a Proto-Germanic root shared with Old Norse skökull ('carriage pole') and Dutch schakel ('link of a chain').