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shackle - 6 dictionary results

shack⋅le

[shak-uhl] noun, verb, -led, -ling.
–noun
1. a ring or other fastening, as of iron, for securing the wrist, ankle, etc.; fetter.
2. a hobble or fetter for a horse or other animal.
3. the U-shaped bar of a padlock, one end of which is pivoted or sliding, the other end of which can be released, as for passing through a staple, and then fastened, as for securing a hasp.
4. any of various fastening or coupling devices.
5. Often, shackles. anything that serves to prevent freedom of procedure, thought, etc.
–verb (used with object)
6. to put a shackle or shackles on; confine or restrain by a shackle or shackles.
7. to fasten or couple with a shackle.
8. to restrain in action, thought, etc., as by restrictions; restrict the freedom of.

Origin:
bef. 1000; (n.) ME schakle, schakyl(le); OE sceacel fetter; c. LG schakel hobble, ON skǫkull wagon pole, (v.) late ME schaklyn, deriv. of the n.


shackler, noun


1. chain, manacle, handcuff, gyve, bilboes. 5. obstacle, obstruction, impediment, encumbrance. 6. restrict, fetter, chain, handcuff, hobble. 8. trammel, impede, slow, stultify, dull.


6, 8. liberate, free.
shack·le   (shāk'əl)   


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n.  
  1. A metal fastening, usually one of a pair, for encircling and confining the ankle or wrist of a prisoner or captive; a fetter or manacle.
  2. A hobble for an animal.
  3. Any of several devices, such as a clevis, used to fasten or couple.
  4. A restraint or check to action or progress. Often used in the plural: economic shackles that precluded further investment.
tr.v.   shack·led, shack·ling, shack·les
  1. To confine with shackles; fetter.
  2. To fasten or connect with a shackle.
  3. To restrict, confine, or hamper. See Synonyms at hamper1.

[Middle English schackel, from Old English sceacel, fetter.]
shack'ler n.

Shackle

Shac"kle\, n. Stubble. [Prov. Eng.] --Pegge.

Shackle

Shac"kle\, n. [Generally used in the plural.] [OE. schakkyll, schakle, AS. scacul, sceacul, a shackle, fr. scacan to shake; cf. D. schakel a link of a chain, a mesh, Icel. sk["o]kull the pole of a cart. See Shake.]

1. Something which confines the legs or arms so as to prevent their free motion; specifically, a ring or band inclosing the ankle or wrist, and fastened to a similar shackle on the other leg or arm, or to something else, by a chain or a strap; a gyve; a fetter.

His shackles empty left; himself escaped clean. --Spenser.

2. Hence, that which checks or prevents free action.

His very will seems to be in bonds and shackles. --South.

3. A fetterlike band worn as an ornament.

Most of the men and women . . . had all earrings made of gold, and gold shackles about their legs and arms. --Dampier.

4. A link or loop, as in a chain, fitted with a movable bolt, so that the parts can be separated, or the loop removed; a clevis.

5. A link for connecting railroad cars; -- called also drawlink, draglink, etc.

6. The hinged and curved bar of a padlock, by which it is hung to the staple. --Knight.

Shackle joint (Anat.), a joint formed by a bony ring passing through a hole in a bone, as at the bases of spines in some fishes.

Shackle

Shac"kle\, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Shackled; p. pr. & vb. n. Shackling.]

1. To tie or confine the limbs of, so as to prevent free motion; to bind with shackles; to fetter; to chain.

To lead him shackled, and exposed to scorn Of gathering crowds, the Britons' boasted chief. --J. Philips.

2. Figuratively: To bind or confine so as to prevent or embarrass action; to impede; to cumber.

Shackled by her devotion to the king, she seldom could pursue that object. --Walpole.

3. To join by a link or chain, as railroad cars. [U. S.]

Shackle bar, the coupling between a locomotive and its tender. [U.S.]

Shackle bolt, a shackle. --Sir W. Scott.
Language Translation for : shackle
Spanish: poner grilletes,
German: in Ketten legen,
Japanese: 足かせをする

shackle 
O.E. sceacel, from P.Gmc. *skakula- (cf. M.Du., Du. schakel "link of a chain," O.N. skökull "pole of a carriage"), of uncertain origin. The common notion of "something to fasten or attach" makes a connection with shake unlikely. The verb is first recorded c.1440. Shacklebolt "bolt which passes through the eyes of a shackle" is recorded from 1688.
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