shackle
English
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): /ˈʃækəl/
Audio (UK) (file) - Rhymes: -ækəl
Etymology 1
a shackle (sense 2)
Inmate in shackles (sense 1).
From Middle English schakkyl, schakle, from Old English sċeacel, sċeacul, sċacul (“shackle, bond, fetter”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to jump, move, shake, stir”), equivalent to shake + -le. Cognate with Dutch schakel (“link, shackle, clasp”), German Schäckel (“shackle”), Danish skagle (“a carriage trace”), Swedish skakel (“the loose shaft of a carriage”), Icelandic skökull (“a carriage pole”).
Noun
shackle (plural shackles)
- (usually in the plural) A restraint fit over a human or animal appendage, such as a wrist, ankle or finger; normally used in pairs joined by a chain.
- The prisoner lay in shackles in his gloomy cell.
- Synonym: hobble
- Hyponyms: handcuff, manacle, fetter
- A U-shaped piece of metal secured with a pin or bolt across the opening, or a hinged metal loop secured with a quick-release locking pin mechanism.
- Coordinate term: clevis
- (figuratively, usually in the plural) A restraint on one's action, activity, or progress.
- 1692–1717, Robert South, Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions, volume (please specify |volume=I to VI), 6th edition, London: […] J[ames] Bettenham, for Jonah Bowyer, […], published 1727, OCLC 21766567:
- His very will seems to be in bonds and shackles.
- 1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXV, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, OCLC 1000326417, pages 269–270:
- He had to eat with a knife and fork; he had to use napkin, cup, and plate; he had to learn his book, he had to go to church; he had to talk so properly that speech was become insipid in his mouth; whithersoever he turned, the bars and shackles of civilization shut him in and bound him hand and foot.
- 1964, “Sister Suffragette”, performed by Glynis Johns:
- Cast off the shackles of yesterday! / Shoulder to shoulder into the fray!
-
- A fetter-like band worn as an ornament.
- 1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World
- Most of the men and women […] had all earrings made of gold, and gold shackles about their legs and arms.
- 1697, William Dampier, A New Voyage Round the World
- A link for connecting railroad cars; a drawlink or draglink.
- A length of cable or chain equal to 121⁄2 fathoms or 75 feet, or later to 15 fathoms.
Derived terms
- harp shackle
- H-shackle
- shackleless
Translations
restraint fit over an appendage
|
a U-shaped piece of metal
|
restraint on one's action
|
fetter-like band worn as an ornament
|
link for connecting railroad cars
|
stubble — see stubble
Further reading
shackle on Wikipedia.Wikipedia
Etymology 2
From Middle English schakelen, schakkylen, from the noun (see above).
Verb
shackle (third-person singular simple present shackles, present participle shackling, simple past and past participle shackled)
- (transitive) To restrain using shackles; to place in shackles.
- (transitive, by extension) To render immobile or incapable; to inhibit the progress or abilities of.
- This law would effectively shackle its opposition.
- 1973, Jim Stafford (lyrics), “Swamp Witch”, in Jim Stafford, performed by Jim Stafford:
- Some say the plague was brought by Hattie
There was talk of a hangin' too.
But the talk got shackled by the howls and the cackles
From the bowels of the Black bayou.
- 2011 February 12, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 2 - 1 Man City”, in BBC:
- Rooney, superbly shackled by City defender Vincent Kompany for so long as Ferguson surprisingly left Dimitar Berbatov on the bench, had previously cut a forlorn and frustrated figure but his natural instincts continue to serve him and United so well.
Antonyms
- (to restrain using shackles): unshackle, untie
- (to inhibit the abilities of): free, liberate, unshackle
Translations
to restrain using shackles
|
to inhibit the abilities of
|
Etymology 3
From shack (“shake”) + -le.
Verb
shackle (third-person singular simple present shackles, present participle shackling, simple past and past participle shackled)
- (dialectal) To shake, rattle.
Anagrams
- Kachels, hackles
Scots
Etymology
From Old English sceacel, sceacul, scacul (“shackle, bond, fetter”), from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to jump, move, shake, stir”).
Pronunciation
- IPA(key): [ʃakl], [ʃekl]
Noun
shackle (plural shackles)
- shackle, fetter, manacle
- (anatomy) wrist
Derived terms
- shackle-bane (“wrist”)
Verb
shackle (third-person singular simple present shackles, present participle shacklin, simple past shackelt, past participle shackelt)
- to shackle