shackle
EnglishEdit
PronunciationEdit
Etymology 1Edit
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”).
NounEdit
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.
- 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 termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
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Further readingEdit
Etymology 2Edit
From Middle English schakelen, schakkylen, from the noun (see above).
VerbEdit
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.
- 2011 February 12, Phil McNulty, “Man Utd 2 - 1 Man City”, in BBC[1]:
- 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.
AntonymsEdit
- (to restrain using shackles): unshackle, untie
- (to inhibit the abilities of): free, liberate, unshackle
TranslationsEdit
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Etymology 3Edit
VerbEdit
shackle (third-person singular simple present shackles, present participle shackling, simple past and past participle shackled)
AnagramsEdit
ScotsEdit
EtymologyEdit
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”).
PronunciationEdit
NounEdit
shackle (plural shackles)
Derived termsEdit
- shackle-bane (“wrist”)
VerbEdit
shackle (third-person singular simple present shackles, present participle shacklin, simple past shackelt, past participle shackelt)
- to shackle