Shackle

/ˈʃækl̩/ name, noun, verb

name, noun, verb ·Common ·High school level

Meaning at a glance

  • Primary sense: A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.
  • Grammar: shackle is listed as name, noun, verb.
  • Nearest alternatives: anchor, anchor, arrest, bar.
  • Useful contrasts: unshackled, autonomy, empower.
  • Usage evidence: Let's shackle your feet with silver fetters.

How to use "shackle"

  1. Start with the primary definition, then check the part of speech before placing the word in a sentence.
  2. Compare nearby synonyms to make sure "shackle" carries the exact meaning, tone, and strength you need.
  3. Use the example sentence as a context check. If your sentence uses the word differently, confirm that the grammar still fits.

Meaning check

  • Does the word fit the sentence's grammar?
  • Does it match the intended tone rather than only the dictionary definition?
  • Would a simpler synonym be clearer for the reader?
  • Is there enough surrounding context to prevent ambiguity?

Source and review context

This entry combines structured lexical data with WordToolSet review checks. Definitions, examples, synonyms, and usage notes may come from different source tables, so the page is designed to show evidence from more than one angle before you rely on "shackle" in a final draft.

If a word has several senses, prefer the sense that matches your sentence's grammar and surrounding context. A correct definition can still be the wrong choice when the sentence needs a different register, emphasis, or level of specificity.

Before you rely on this definition

Read the first definition as a starting point, then check the example, synonyms, and part of speech before treating "shackle" as the right word for your sentence.

If your draft is formal, technical, persuasive, or sensitive, compare "shackle" with a nearby alternative so the final choice matches both meaning and reader expectation.

Compare nearby meanings

  • Use synonyms when you need a softer, stronger, simpler, or more specific word.
  • Use antonyms to check the boundary of the meaning and avoid accidental contrast.
  • Use the example sentence to confirm the word behaves naturally in context.
  • Keep the original wording when a replacement adds complexity without improving precision.

Definition decision workflow

1. Identify the role

Check whether "shackle" is acting as name, noun, verb in your sentence. A definition is only useful when the grammar matches the way the word is being used.

2. Test the nearest option

Compare it with "anchor" and other nearby choices to see whether the sentence needs a softer, stronger, or more familiar word.

3. Confirm with context

Use the example sentence below as an evidence check, then read your own sentence out loud to catch tone or rhythm problems.

Review note: Definition pages are checked for source coverage, sentence evidence, synonym support, and editorial insight before they are treated as approval-ready pages. If the evidence is too thin, the page remains available to users but is kept out of the approval-facing indexed inventory.

Final meaning check

Before publishing a sentence with "shackle", ask whether the word helps the reader understand the idea faster. A precise word should reduce confusion, not simply make the sentence look more polished.

When the definition, synonym evidence, and example context point in the same direction, the word is usually a safer choice. When they conflict, revise the sentence or choose a clearer alternative.

Definitions

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

    "The prisoner lay in shackles in his gloomy cell."

  2. 2
    A person who is idle or lazy; an idler. UK, dialectal
  3. 3
    a restraint that confines or restricts freedom (especially something used to tie down or restrain a prisoner) wordnet
  4. 4
    A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.; A 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. broadly, plural-normally
  5. 5
    A dice game; also, an event at which tickets are sold for chances to be drawn to win prizes; a raffle. UK, dialectal
Show 9 more definitions
  1. 6
    a U-shaped bar; the open end can be passed through chain links and closed with a bar wordnet
  2. 7
    A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.; Part 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. broadly, plural-normally
  3. 8
    A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.; A 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. broadly, plural-normally

    "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."

  4. 9
    A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.; Synonym 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”). broadly, plural-normally

    "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."

  5. 10
    A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.; A link for connecting railroad cars; a draglink, drawbar, or drawlink. broadly, plural-normally
  6. 11
    A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.; Ellipsis of shackle-bone (“wristbone, carpal; wrist”). Scotland, abbreviation, alt-of, archaic, broadly, ellipsis, plural-normally
  7. 12
    A restraint fitted over a human or animal appendage, such as an ankle, finger, or wrist, normally used in a pair joined by a chain.; A fetter-like band worn on an appendage as an ornament; an anklet, an armlet, a bracelet, a wristlet. broadly, obsolete, plural-normally, rare

    "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."

  8. 13
    A restraint on one's action, activity, or progress. figuratively, plural-normally

    "[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."

  9. 14
    A 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)."

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

    "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."

  2. 2
    To rattle or shake (something). UK, dialectal, transitive
  3. 3
    restrain with fetters wordnet
  4. 4
    To connect or couple (something) to another thing using a shackle (noun etymology 1 sense 1.1.1, etymology 1 sense 1.1.3, etc.). transitive
  5. 5
    To put (something) into disorder; specifically (agriculture), to cause (standing stalks of corn) to fall over. UK, dialectal, transitive
Show 6 more definitions
  1. 6
    bind the arms of wordnet
  2. 7
    To provide (something) with a shackle. transitive
  3. 8
    Often followed by about: to be idle or lazy; to avoid work. UK, dialectal, intransitive
  4. 9
    To inhibit or restrain the ability, action, activity, or progress of (someone or something); to render (someone or something) incapable or ineffectual. figuratively, transitive

    "This law would effectively shackle its opposition."

  5. 10
    To combine (a substance) with another substance. figuratively, obsolete, transitive

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

  6. 11
    Of two things: to connect or couple together. intransitive, reflexive
Proper Noun
  1. 1
    A surname

Synonyms

All synonyms
anchoranchorarrestbarbarrierbearing rein

Example

"Let's shackle your feet with silver fetters."

Common questions

What does "shackle" mean?

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

What is a synonym for "shackle"?

Common synonyms include: anchor, anchor, arrest, bar, barrier, bearing rein.

How do you use "shackle" in a sentence?

Let's shackle your feet with silver fetters.

How do you pronounce "shackle"?

Pronounced /ˈʃækl̩/.

Etymology

Etymology 1

From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”), from Old English sċacul, sċeacel, sċeacul (“fetter, shackle”), from Proto-West Germanic *skakul, from Proto-Germanic *skakulaz (“shackle”), possibly from *skakaną (“to shake; to swing; to escape”), from Proto-Indo-European *skeg-, *skek- (“to shake; to stir”). However, this is doubted by the Oxford English Dictionary because *skeg-, *skek- lack the meaning of attaching or fastening. Etymology 1 sense 3 (“length of cable or chain equal to 12½ or 15 fathoms”) derives from the original distance between two shackles (etymology 1 sense 1.1.3) connecting lengths of cable or chain together. Cognates * Danish skagle (“carriage trace”) * Dutch schakel (“clasp; link; shackle”) * German Schäckel (“shackle”) * Icelandic skökull (“carriage pole”) * Swedish skakel (“loose shaft of a carriage”)

Etymology 2

From Middle English schakelen, schakkylen (“(also figurative) to put (someone) in shackles; to protect (legs) with greaves”), from shakel, schakkyl, schakle (noun) (see etymology 1) + -en (suffix forming the infinitives of verbs).

Etymology 3

From shack (“variant of shake”), shake (verb) + -le (suffix forming agent nouns; frequentative suffix forming verbs).

More for "shackle"

Synonyms

Next best steps

Find stronger synonymsBrowse writing guidesExplore topic clusters