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shackle

From Wiktionary, the free dictionary

English

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WOTD – 19 June 2024

Pronunciation

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A prison inmate in shackles (etymology 1 sense 1).
A shackle used to attach things together (etymology 1 sense 1.1.1).

Etymology 1

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From Middle English shakel, schakkyl, schakle (“a fetter, shackle; coupling used to connect a plough or wagon to a draft chain”),[1] 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.[2]

Sense 3 (“length of cable or chain equal to 12½ or 15 fathoms”) derives from the original distance between two shackles (sense 1.1.3) connecting lengths of cable or chain together.[2]

Cognates

Noun

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shackle (plural shackles)

  2. (usually in the plural) 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: fetter
    Hyponyms: handcuff, hobble, hopple, legcuff, manacle, wristlet
    The prisoner lay in shackles in his gloomy cell.
    • 1785, William Cowper, “Book II. The Time-piece.”, in The Task, a Poem, […], London: […] J[oseph] Johnson;  […], →OCLC, page 47:
      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.
    • 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:
      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, […]
    • 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:
      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.
    1. (by extension)
      2. 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.
      3. 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.
      5. 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.
        • 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:
          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.
      6. (agriculture) 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”).
        • 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:
          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.
        • 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:
          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.
        • 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:
          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, . .
      7. (rail transport) A link for connecting railroad cars; a draglink, drawbar, or drawlink.
        Synonym: (US) dragbar
      8. (Scotland, archaic) Ellipsis of shackle-bone (“wristbone, carpal; wrist”).
      9. (obsolete, rare) A fetter-like band worn on an appendage as an ornament; an anklet, an armlet, a bracelet, a wristlet.
        • 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:
          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.
        • 1697, William Dampier, chapter XVIII, in A New Voyage Round the World. […], London: […] James Knapton, […], →OCLC, page 514:
          [M]oſt of the Men and VVomen […] had all Ear-rings made of Gold, and Gold Shackles about their Legs and Arms: […]
  3. (figurative, usually in the plural) A restraint on one's action, activity, or progress.
  5. (nautical) 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).
    • 2007, David J. House, “Anchor Operations and Deployment”, in Ship Handling: Theory and Practice, Oxford, Oxfordshire; Burlington, Mass.: Butterworth-Heinemann, →ISBN, page 92:
      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).
Derived terms
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Translations
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