Handcuff
noun, verb ·Moderate ·College level
Definitions
- 1 One ring of a locking fetter for the hand or one pair. rare, singular
- 2 shackle that consists of a metal loop that can be locked around the wrist; usually used in pairs wordnet
- 1 To apply handcuffs to someone. transitive
"The sheriff had brought along all the handcuffs necessary, and in a few seconds he had handcuffed Koswell. He threw a pair of the steel bracelets to Dick and another pair to Tom, and the Rovers had the satisfaction of handcuffing Josiah Crabtree and Tad Sobber. Then the sheriff made prisoners of the rest of the crowd[…]"
- 2 confine or restrain with or as if with manacles or handcuffs wordnet
- 3 to restrain or restrict. figuratively, transitive
"Dang, I’m handcuffed by these regulations. I’d like to help but it’d be illegal."
Example
More examples"The man was so agitated that the police could not handcuff him."
Etymology
From hand + cuff (“end of shirtsleeve”). Possibly an adaptation of Middle English handcops (“shackles for the hand, handcuffs”), from Old English handcops, from hand + cops, cosp (“fetter, chains”), but due to a lack of continuity (centuries between Old English and the modern term), generally analyzed as a re-invention. Nominal form first appears c. 1591 in the publications of John Florio. Verbal form first appears c. 1649.
Related phrases
More for "handcuff"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.