shackle

Pronunciation

• IPA ^(key): /ˈʃækəl/

• Audio (UK)

  (file)

• Hyphenation: shac‧kle

Noun

Singular shackle

Plural shackles

1. (countable) A shackle is a restraint, originally leg-irons which made movement slow and difficult. By extension, it means anything that limits what people do.

   Laws are meant as shackles to prevent governments doing whatever they wish.

Verb

Plain form shackle

Third-person singular shackles

Past tense shackled

Past participle shackled

Present participle shackling

1. (transitive) To shackle is to limit or restrain what can be done.

   He could scarcely move after they shackled him.

   Marriage shackled him.