shackle

EnglishEdit

 
A shackle—a U-shaped piece of metal (2)
 
Inmate in shackles (1)

PronunciationEdit

  • IPA(key): /ˈʃækəl/
    • Audio (UK)
      		(file)
  • Rhymes: -ækəl

Etymology 1Edit

From Middle English schakkyl, schakle, from Old English sċeacel, sċeacul, sċacul (“shackle, bond, fetter”), 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)

  1. (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
  2. 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
  3. (figuratively, usually in the plural) A restraint on one's action, activity, or progress.
    • 1698, Robert South, Twelve Sermons upon Several Subjects and Occasions
      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!
  4. 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.
  5. A link for connecting railroad cars; a drawlink or draglink.
  6. A length of cable or chain equal to 12+1⁄2 fathoms or 75 feet, or later to 15 fathoms.
  7. Stubble.
    (Can we find and add a quotation of Pegge to this entry?)
Derived termsEdit
TranslationsEdit
stubble — see stubble

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)

  1. (transitive) To restrain using shackles; to place in shackles.
  2. (transitive, by extension) To render immobile or incapable; to inhibit the progress or abilities of.
    This law would effectively shackle its opposition.
AntonymsEdit
TranslationsEdit

Etymology 3Edit

From shack (“shake”) +‎ -le.

VerbEdit

shackle (third-person singular simple present shackles, present participle shackling, simple past and past participle shackled)

  1. (dialectal) To shake, rattle.

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)

  1. shackle, fetter, manacle
  2. (anatomy) wrist

Derived termsEdit

VerbEdit

shackle (third-person singular present shackles, present participle shacklin, past shackelt, past participle shackelt)

  1. to shackle
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