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Definition of "manacle" [man•a•cle]

  • A device for confining the hands, usually consisting of a set of two metal rings that are fastened about the wrists and joined by a metal chain. (noun)
  • Something that confines or restrains. (noun)
  • To confine or restrain with or as if with manacles; fetter. See Synonyms at hamper1. (verb-transitive)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Use "manacle" in a sentence
  • "An amnesiac, later identified asJake Lonergan Daniel Craig, recovers consciousness in the wilderness, horseless, a photo of a woman half-buried in the sand before him and a curious manacle or bracelet on his left arm, which, given the movie's title, suggests extraterrestrial origins."
  • "If the neck of the victim be broken by the alleged shrewd arrangement of knot and noose, and by the alleged shrewd calculation of the weight of the victim and the length of slack, then why do they manacle the arms of the victim?"
  • "But at least the Spacing gang has the sense to reach beyond that geo-cultural manacle."