shackle

From Wiktionary

Pronunciation[change]

Noun[change]

Singular
shackle

Plural
shackles

A shackle
  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[change]

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.