Meanings
handcuffs1
- pluralplural onlyA fastening consisting of two metal rings, designed to go around a person's wrists, and connected by a chain or hinge.
It was the sergeant who had spoken to me, and he was now looking round at the company, with his handcuffs invitingly extended towards them in his right hand, and his left on my shoulder.
1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter V, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 611 more example
Security is tight inside and outside the building, guarded by a bewildering collection of soldiers, policemen and gendarmes. Relatives watch as prisoners in handcuffs and leg irons shuffle past.
2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian - figurativelypluralplural onlyAny abstract constraint, such as rules, regulations, or lack of resources.
They complained that their rules of engagement were handcuffs that guaranteed counterproductivity.
handcuffs2
- pluralplural of handcuff
handcuffs3
- indicativepresentsingularthird personthird-person singular simple present indicative of handcuff
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
- Old Englishhandcops
- Englishhandcuffs
1775, from hand + cuff (“end of shirtsleeve”). Possibly influenced by Old English handcops, from hand + cops (“fetter, chains”), but due to lack of continuity (centuries between Old English and modern term), generally analyzed as a re-invention.
More words from Old English
Full word history & related roots →Translations
Arabic أَصْفَاد, أَغْلَال
- أَصْفَاد (ʔaṣfād)metal rings for fastening wrists
- أَغْلَال (ʔaḡlāl)metal rings for fastening wrists
Basque esku lota
- esku lotametal rings for fastening wrists
Bengali হাতকড়া
- হাতকড়া (hatkoṛa)metal rings for fastening wrists
Bulgarian белезни́ци
- белезни́ци (belezníci)metal rings for fastening wrists
Catalan manilles
- manillesmetal rings for fastening wrists
Chinese Cantonese 手扣
- 手扣 (sau² kau³)metal rings for fastening wrists
Chinese Mandarin 手銬 /手铐
- 手銬 /手铐 (shǒukào)metal rings for fastening wrists
Czech pouta, želízka
- poutametal rings for fastening wrists
- želízkametal rings for fastening wrists
Danish håndjern
- håndjernmetal rings for fastening wrists
Dutch handboeien
- handboeienmetal rings for fastening wrists
Esperanto mankateno
- mankatenometal rings for fastening wrists
Estonian käerauad
- käerauadmetal rings for fastening wrists
Finnish käsiraudat
- käsiraudatmetal rings for fastening wrists
French menottes, entraves
- menottesmetal rings for fastening wrists
- entravesmetal rings for fastening wrists
- braceletsmetal rings for fastening wrists
German Handschellen, Handfesseln
- Handschellenmetal rings for fastening wrists
- Handfesselnmetal rings for fastening wrists
Greek χειροπέδες
- χειροπέδες (cheiropédes)metal rings for fastening wrists
Hebrew אֲזִקִּים
- אֲזִקִּים (azikím)metal rings for fastening wrists
Hindi हथकड़ी
- हथकड़ी (hathakṛī)metal rings for fastening wrists
Hungarian bilincs
- bilincsmetal rings for fastening wrists
Icelandic handjárn
- handjárnmetal rings for fastening wrists
Indonesian borgol
- borgolmetal rings for fastening wrists
Irish glais lámh
- glais lámhmetal rings for fastening wrists
Italian manette
- manettemetal rings for fastening wrists
Japanese 手錠
- 手錠 (tejō)metal rings for fastening wrists
Korean 수갑
- 수갑 (sugap)metal rings for fastening wrists
Latin manicae
- manicaemetal rings for fastening wrists
Latvian roku dzelži
- roku dzelžimetal rings for fastening wrists
Lithuanian antrankiai
- antrankiaimetal rings for fastening wrists
Malay gari
- garimetal rings for fastening wrists
Norwegian Bokmål håndjern
- håndjernmetal rings for fastening wrists
Polish kajdanki
- kajdankimetal rings for fastening wrists
Portuguese algema
- algemametal rings for fastening wrists
Romanian cătușe
- cătușemetal rings for fastening wrists
Russian нару́чники
- нару́чники (narúčniki)metal rings for fastening wrists
Slovak putá, želiezka
- putámetal rings for fastening wrists
- želiezkametal rings for fastening wrists
Spanish esposas, grilletes
- esposasmetal rings for fastening wrists
- grilletesmetal rings for fastening wrists
- marrocasmetal rings for fastening wrists
- chachasmetal rings for fastening wrists
- grillasmetal rings for fastening wrists
Swedish handbojor, handklovar
- handbojormetal rings for fastening wrists
- handklovarmetal rings for fastening wrists
Tagalog posas
- posasmetal rings for fastening wrists
Tamil கைவிலங்கு
- கைவிலங்கு (kaivilaṅku)metal rings for fastening wrists
Thai กุญแจมือ
- กุญแจมือ (gun-jɛɛ-mʉʉ)metal rings for fastening wrists
Turkish kelepçe, bilekçe
- kelepçemetal rings for fastening wrists
- bilekçemetal rings for fastening wrists
Ukrainian нару́чники, кайда́ни
- нару́чники (narúčnyky)metal rings for fastening wrists
- кайда́ни (kajdány)metal rings for fastening wrists
Urdu ہَتَھکْڑی, ہَتْھکَڑی
- ہَتَھکْڑی (hathakṛī)metal rings for fastening wrists
- ہَتْھکَڑی (hathkaṛī)metal rings for fastening wrists
Vietnamese còng, còng tay
- còngmetal rings for fastening wrists
- còng taymetal rings for fastening wrists
- còng số támmetal rings for fastening wrists
- còng số 8metal rings for fastening wrists
Yiddish האַנטקייטן
- האַנטקייטן (hantkeytn)metal rings for fastening wrists
Cite this entry
handcuffs. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handcuffs
“handcuffs.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handcuffs. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “handcuffs,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/handcuffs.
Source: handcuffs on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.