Meaning & use
manacle
A metal band or ring locked around the wrist to restrain a prisoner; a handcuff.
See it in a sentence
The prisoner's wrists were bound with heavy iron manacles.
Historians displayed the rusted manacles once used aboard slave ships.
A note on using this word
Almost always used in the plural and evokes historical or dramatic imprisonment rather than modern police restraints.
Words with a similar meaning
shacklehandcuff
Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.
Another way to use it
2. verb
To restrain someone with manacles, or figuratively to severely restrict freedom.
Debt had manacled the family to jobs they both wanted to leave.
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