shackle

plural shackles

1. plural normallyA restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.

   The prisoner lay in shackles in his gloomy cell.

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   Slaves cannot breathe in England; if their lungs / Receive our air, that moment they are free, / They touch our country and their ſhackles fall. / That's noble, and beſpeaks a nation proud / And jealous of the bleſſing.

   1785, William Cowper, “Book II. The Time-piece.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson; […], →OCLC, page 47

   Tom got in, and Haley, drawing out from under the wagon seat a heavy pair of shackles, made them fast around each ankle. A smothered groan of indignation ran through the whole circle, […]

   1851 June – 1852 April, Harriet Beecher Stowe, “The Property is Carried Off”, in Uncle Tom’s Cabin; or, Life among the Lowly, volume I, Boston, Mass.: John P[unchard] Jewett & Company; Cleveland, Oh.: Jewett, Proctor & Worthington, published 20 March 1852, →OCLC, page 147

   As installed at Hormel's Fremont, Nebr[aska] plant, pleasanter and safer working conditions for hog dispatching personnel, […] are some other plus factors for this new hog sticking-bleeding method. […] Conveyors replace the shackle and shackle hoist and a precisely administered incision replaces catch-as-catch-can sticking.

   1956 April 14, “Look … No Shackles, No Bruised Hams”, in Edward R. Swem, editor, The National Provisioner, volume 134, number 15, Chicago, Ill.: National Provisioner, Inc., →ISSN, →OCLC, page 18, column 1

   Synonyms: fetter

   1. broadlyplural normallyA U-shaped piece of metal secured with a bolt or pin across the ends, or a hinged metal loop secured with a quick-release locking pin mechanism, used for attaching things together while allowing for some degree of movement; a clevis.

      Synonyms: fetter

   2. broadlyplural normallyPart of a padlock that consists of a loop of metal (round or square in cross section) that encompasses what is being secured by the lock.

      Synonyms: fetter

   3. broadlyplural normallyA hook, ring, or other device for connecting, holding, lifting, etc.; specifically (nautical), a small incomplete ring secured with a bolt across the ends, used to connect lengths of cable or chain together, or to keep a porthole closed.

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      Shackles come in various sizes and are used to join recovery items to the vehicle or to each other. They come in two shapes and are known as either bow shackles or D-shackles. The bow shackle is the preferred shape because it permits easier attachment of bulky items and is the most common style of shackle now in use.

      2019, Vic Widman, “4WD Recovery Equipment”, in 4WD Driving Skills: A Manual for On- and Off-road Travel, 2nd edition, Clayton South, Melbourne, Vic.: CSIRO Publishing, →ISBN, page 164

      Synonyms: fetter

   4. broadlyplural normallyagricultureSynonym of hobble or hopple (“a short strap tied between the legs of a horse, allowing it to wander a short distance but not to run off”).

      I should have thought some sleek and sober mule / Long train'd in shackles to procession pace, / More suited to my Lord of Seville's use / Than this good war-horse, . .

      1814, Robert Southey, “Canto XXV”, in Roderick the Last of the Goths, London: […] [F]or Longman, Hurst, Rees, Orme, and Brown, […], by James Ballantyne and Co. […], →OCLC, page 318

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      Soles, fetters, ⁊ ſhackles, with horſelock and pad, / a cow-houſe for winter, ſo meete to be had: / A ſtie for a bore, and a hogſcote for hog, / a rooſt for thy hennes, and a couch for thy dog.

      1580, Thomas Tusser, “A Digression to Husbandlie Furniture”, in Fiue Hundred Pointes of Good Husbandrie: […], London: […] Henrie Denham [beeing the assigne of William Seres] […], →OCLC, stanza 21, folios 16, verso – 17, recto

      IF a horſe be galled in the paſtorne, on the heele, or vpon the cronet, either vvith ſhackell or locke, as it many times happens in the Champion countries, vvhere the Farmers vſe much to teather their horſes: then for ſuch a ſoare you ſhall take hony and verdigreaſe, and boyle them together till the one halfe be conſumed, and that it looke red: then after it is a little cooled, you ſhall annoynt the ſoare place therevvith tvvice a day, and then ſtrevv upon it a little chopt floxe to keepe on the ſalue.

      1610, Gervase Markham, “Of the Shackle-gall, or Gall in the Pastorne, either by Shackel or Locke”, in Markhams Maister-peece. Or, What doth a Horse-man Lacke. Containing All Possible Knowledge whatsoeuer which doth Belong to any Smith, Farrier, or Horse-leech, Touching the Curing of All Manner of Diseases or Sorrances in Horses; […], London: […] Nicholas Okes, and are to be sold by Arthur Iohnson, […], →OCLC, 2nd book (Containing All Cures Chyrurgicall, […]), page 364

      Synonyms: fetter, hobble, hopple

   5. broadlyplural normallyrail transportA link for connecting railroad cars; a draglink, drawbar, or drawlink.

      Synonyms: fetter, dragbar

   6. Scotlandabbreviationarchaicbroadlyellipsisplural normallyEllipsis of shackle-bone (“wristbone, carpal; wrist”).

      Synonyms: fetter

   7. broadlyobsoleteplural normallyrareA fetter-like band worn on an appendage as an ornament; an anklet, an armlet, a bracelet, a wristlet.

      [M]oſt of the Men and VVomen […] had all Ear-rings made of Gold, and Gold Shackles about their Legs and Arms: […]

      1697, William Dampier, chapter XVIII, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 514

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      They firſt vvaſh the dead body, paint him, clothe him, and ſo conueigh him to his Dormitorie, vvhich is ſpacious and neat, vvherein they bury his Armolets, Bracelets, Shackles and ſuch Treaſure, concluding their Ceremonies vvith Mimmicke geſtures and eiaculations: vvhich, vvith the Sacrifice of a Goat, vpon his Graue, puts a period to their Burials.

      1634, T[homas] H[erbert], “[Angola]”, in A Relation of Some Yeares Trauaile, Begunne Anno 1626. into Afrique and the Greater Asia, […], London: […] William Stansby, and Jacob Bloome, →OCLC, pages 9–10

      Synonyms: fetter

2. figurativelyplural normallyA restraint on one's action, activity, or progress.

   Cast off the shackles of yesterday! / Shoulder to shoulder into the fray!

   1963 April–December (date recorded), Richard M[orton] Sherman, Robert B[ernard] Sherman, “Sister Suffragette”, in Mary Poppins: Original Cast Soundtrack, performed by Glynis Johns, Burbank, Calif.: Buena Vista Distribution Company, published September 1964, →OCLC

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   [A] Servant commonly is leſs free in Mind than in Condition; his very VVill ſeems to be in bonds and ſhackles, and Deſire it ſelf under a kind of Durance and Captivity.

   1664; first published 1694, Robert South, “A Sermon Preached before the University, at Christ-Church, Oxon. 1664.”, in Twelve Sermons Preached upon Several Occasions. […], volume II, London: […] J[ohn] H[eptinstall] for Thomas Bennet […], →OCLC, page 69

   Virtue's a Shackle, under fair Diſguiſe, / To fetter Fools, vvhile vve bear off the Prize.

   1728 (date written), Edward Young, The Brothers. A Tragedy. […], London: […] R[obert] Dodsley […], published 1753, →OCLC, Act II, page 27

   He had to eat with 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.

   1876, Mark Twain [pseudonym; Samuel Langhorne Clemens], chapter XXXV, in The Adventures of Tom Sawyer, Hartford, Conn.: The American Publishing Company, →OCLC, pages 269–270

3. nauticalA length of cable or chain equal to 12½ fathoms (75 feet or about 22.9 metres), or later to 15 fathoms (90 feet or about 27.4 metres).

   Once the cables are at five shackles to each anchor, stop engines and stop windlass operations. The vessel will then be seen to lie to five shackles on the Port (Riding Cable) and five shackles on the starboard (Sleeping Cable).

   2007, David J. House, “Anchor Operations and Deployment”, in Ship Handling: Theory and Practice, Oxford, Oxfordshire; Burlington, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann, →ISBN, page 92

present singular third person shackles · participle present shackling · participle past shackled · past shackled · first person past singular shackled · archaic present second person singular shacklest · past second person singular shackled · archaic past second person singular shackledst · present singular third person shackles · archaic present singular third person shackleth · past singular third person shackled · past plural shackled · past subjunctive shackled · participle present shackling · participle past shackled

1. transitiveTo place (a person or animal) in shackles (noun etymology 1 sense 1); to immobilize or restrain using shackles.

   Huelydd, sub[stantive] a fetterer, he that shackleth or fettereth

   1815, Thomas Richards, “Huelydd, sub.”, in Antiquæ Linguæ Britannicæ Thesaurus. A Welsh and English Dictionary: […], 2nd edition, Trefriw, Clwyd, Wales: […] I. Davies […], →OCLC, page 269, column 1

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   A man giuen ouer to ſenſual appetite carrieth fetters in his eyes, vvhervvith he shackleth, glevv, vvhervvith he layeth faſt hold, hookes, vvhervvith he catcheth, flames vvhervvith he burneth, ſhafts, vvhervvith he transfixeth both his ovvne and the ſoules of other men: ſhackled vvith theſe fetters, caught vvith these hookes, burnt vvith theſe flames: transfixed vvith theſe shafts vvas the Aſſyrian Holofernes.

   1633, Hier[emas] Drexlius [i.e., Jeremias Drexel], “The Fifth Allurement to Incontinency, Wandring Eyes”, in R. S. [Robert Stanford?], transl., Nicetas or The Triumph ouer Incontinencie […], [Rouen, Normandy]: […] [The widow of N. Courant], →OCLC, book I, § II, page 56

   The chariot jumps, on which thou art. Thou art troubled to hold up thy horses. If it falls into the abyss, the pole drags thee down too. Thy ceintures are pulled away. They fall down. Thou shacklest the horse, because the pole is broken on the path of the narrow pass. Not knowing how to bind it up, thou understandest not how it is to be repaired.

   1879, Henry Brugsch-Bey [i.e., Heinrich Karl Brugsch], “The Nineteenth Dynasty. The People of the Khita.”, in Henry Danby Seymour, Philip Smith, transl., edited by Philip Smith, A History of Egypt under the Pharaohs: Derived Entirely from the Monuments […], volume II, London: John Murray, […], →OCLC, page 107

   Nae doubt it's a hard thing to skulk and starve in the heather, but it's harder yet to lie shackled in a red-coat prison.

   1886 May 1 – July 31, Robert Louis Stevenson, “I Talk with Alan in the Wood of Lettermore”, in Kidnapped, being Memoirs of the Adventures of David Balfour in the Year 1751: […], London; Paris: Cassell & Company, published 1886, →OCLC, page 173

   Synonyms: beshackle, cuff, enshackle, fetter, handcuff, manacle · Antonyms: uncuff, unfetter, unhandcuff, unmanacle, unshackle

2. transitiveTo connect or couple (something) to another thing using a shackle (noun etymology 1 sense 1.1.1, etymology 1 sense 1.1.3, etc.).
3. transitiveTo provide (something) with a shackle.
4. figurativelytransitiveTo inhibit or restrain the ability, action, activity, or progress of (someone or something); to render (someone or something) incapable or ineffectual.

   This law would effectively shackle its opposition.

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   [I]t were a plaine ſlauerie, ⁊ iniurie to, to ſhakkle and tye a good witte, and hinder the courſe of a mãs [man's] good nature with ſuch bondes of ſeruitude, in folowyng other.

   a. 1569 (date written), Roger Ascham, “[The Second Booke Teachyng the Ready Way to the Latin Tong]”, in Margaret Ascham, editor, The Scholemaster: Or Plaine and Perfite Way of Teaching Children, to Vnderstand, Write, and Speake, the Latin Tong, […], London: […] John Daye, […], published 1570, →OCLC, folios 48, recto – 48, verso

   Of it ſelfe it [the law] is the cord of a Iudge vvhich bindeth hand and foot, and ſhackleth unto condemnation; but by Chriſt it is made the cord of a man, and the band of Love, by vvhich he teacheth us to goe, even as a nurſe her infant.

   1632, Edward Reynolds, “The Life of Christ: Or, The Fellowship of the Saints with Him, in His Life, Sufferings, and Resurrection”, in Three Treatises of The Vanity of the Creature. The Sinfulnesse of Sinne. The Life of Christ. […], 2nd edition, London: […] Felix Kyngston for Robert Bostocke, […], →OCLC, page 416

   AN Eagle made a Stoop at a Lamb; Truſs'd it, and took it Cleverly avvay vvith her. A Mimical Davv, that ſavv This Exploit, vvould needs try the ſame Experiment upon a Ram: But his Clavvs vvere ſo Shackled in the Fleece vvith Lugging to get him up, that the Shepherd came in, and Caught him, before he could Cleare Himſelf; He Clipt his VVings, and carry'd him Home to his Children to Play vvithal.

   1692, Roger L’Estrange, “[The Fables of Æsop, &c.] Fab[le] LXXV. An Eagle and a Daw.”, in Fables, of Æsop and Other Eminent Mythologists: […], London: […] R[ichard] Sare, […], →OCLC, page 74

   [T]he abſurd duty, too often inculcated, of obeying a parent only on account of his being a parent, ſhackles the mind, and prepares it for a ſlaviſh ſubmiſſion to any povver but reaſon.

   1791 (date written), Mary Wollstonecraft, “Duty to Parents”, in A Vindication of the Rights of Woman: With Strictures on Political and Moral Subjects, London: […] J[oseph] Johnson, […], published 1792, →OCLC, page 351

   Senator [Gale William] McGee. Again to make sure we haven't contradicted the record here, we do not construe anything you say here this morning to favor shackling the Commission? […] Mr. Jackson. No, sir. Well, this is a matter of semantics. By the same token, we don't—it is not our purpose to give them unrestricted power.

   1962 February 22, Jack Jackson, “Statement of Jack Jackson, Director of Public Relations, the National Grange”, in All-channel Television Receivers: Hearings before the Communications Subcommittee of the Committee on Commerce, United States Senate, Eighty-seventh Congress, Second Session on S. 2109: A Bill to Amend the Communications Act of 1934 in Order to Give the Federal Communications Commission certain Regulatory Authority over Television Receiving Apparatus […], Washington, D.C.: U.S. Government Printing Office, →OCLC, page 240

   Synonyms: bind, hamshackle, tie · Antonyms: free, liberate, unbind, unshackle, untie

5. figurativelyobsoletetransitivechemistryTo combine (a substance) with another substance.

   Bitterneſs is produced by a Sulphur vvell impregnated, either vvith an Alkaline, or an Acid Salt, but alſo ſhackled vvith Earth.

   1675 April 4 (Gregorian calendar), Nehemiah Grew, “[Several Lectures Read before the Royal Society.] A Discourse of the Diversities and Causes of Tasts Chiefly in Plants. Read before the Royal Society, March 25. 1675. Chapter IV. Of the Causes of Tasts.”, in The Anatomy of Plants. […], [London]: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, published 1682, →OCLC, page 288

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   [A] little of that Fixed Salt, ſerves, it ſeems, to Shackle or Cryſtallize (vvhich is a degree of Fixation) a very great quantity of the Eſſential Salt of this Plant.

   1681, Nehemiah Grew, “Of Arborescent Plants”, in Musæum Regalis Societatis. Or A Catalogue & Description of the Natural and Artificial Rarities Belonging to the Royal Society and Preserved at Gresham Colledge. […], London: […] W. Rawlins, for the author, →OCLC, part II (Of Plants), page 224

6. intransitivereflexiveOf two things: to connect or couple together.

plural shackles

1. UKdialectalA person who is idle or lazy; an idler.
2. UKdialectaldiceA dice game; also, an event at which tickets are sold for chances to be drawn to win prizes; a raffle.

present singular third person shackles · participle present shackling · participle past shackled · past shackled

1. UKdialectaltransitiveTo rattle or shake (something).
2. UKdialectaltransitiveTo put (something) into disorder; specifically (agriculture), to cause (standing stalks of corn) to fall over.
3. UKdialectalintransitiveOften followed by about: to be idle or lazy; to avoid work.

1. A surname