▪ I. shackle, n.1
(ˈʃæk(ə)l)
Forms: α. 1 sceacul, scacul, 3 scheakel, 4 schackle, schakel, 4–5 schakle, 5 shakill, schakyl(l, -ylle, schakkyl, 5–6 shakyl, 5–7 shakel, 6 schakill, schaccle, shakyll, shackil, -yll, 6–7 shackel(l, 6–9 now dial. shakle, (7 schackell), 9 dial. sheakle, 6– shackle. β. north. and Sc. 5 shekyl, 6 scheckill, 7 schaikill, 8 shekle, shekel, 9 sheckle, shaikle.
[OE. sceacul masc., fetter, corresp. to LG. schakel link of a chain, hobble for a horse, Du. schakel, HG. dial. schakel link of a chain, ON. skǫkull masc., pole of a wagon (Sw. skakel, Da. skagle):—OTeut. type *skakulo-. A cognate word is LG. schake link of a chain.
The notion common to these words appears to be that of ‘something to fasten or attach’. On this ground it seems difficult to refer them to the Teut. root *skak- shake v. Falk and Torp suggest a Teut. root *skǣk-:—pre-Teut. *skēg-, a doublet of *kēg-, whence Teut. *hǣk- (:hak- :hōk-) found in G. haken, OE. hóc hook n.1; but this is very doubtful.]
I. A kind of fetter.
1. A fetter for the ankle or wrist of a prisoner, usually one of a pair connected together by a chain, which is fastened to a ring-bolt in the floor or wall of the cell. In the OE. examples, a ring or collar for the neck of a prisoner. a. sing.
| a 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 107/10 Columbar, sceacul, uel bend. [Ibid. 116/10 Nerui boia fotcopsa, uel sweorscacul.] c 1425 Cast. Persev. 2655 in Macro Plays 156 Þou schalt be schakyn in myn schakle. c 1440 Promp. Parv. 443/2 Schakkyl, or schakle, murella, numella. a 1591 H. Smith Serm. (1594) 262 At last his shackell falleth from him,..the prison openeth and [etc.]. 1688 Holme Armoury iii. 336/1, I should rather take it [a Cop-sole and Pin] for a Shackle and Bolt. a 1779 Cook Voy. Pacific iii. vi. (1784) II. 102 He carried with him the shackle of the bilboo-bolt that was about his leg. 1851 Robertson Serm. Ser. i. xviii. (1855) 303 It is not the shackle on the wrist that constitutes the slave—but the loss of self-respect. |
b. pl.
| 1540 Star Chamber Cases (Selden Soc.) II. 220 There was put vpon your sayd poore subiecte..a great payer of Shackels. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 91 b, A prison and a man loking out at a grate..and all his apparel was garded with shakelles of syluer. 1555 Eden Decades (Arb.) 252 Then caused two payre of shackels of iron to bee put on theyr legges. 1597 Aberd. Acc. in Spalding Club Miscell. V. 69 Tua pair of scheckills to the witches in the stepill. 1641 Earl of Monmouth tr. Biondi's Civil Wars v. 167 They resolved rather to dye fighting then to live in schackells. 1652 Sir C. Cotterell tr. Calprenede's Cassandra iii. (1676) 51 You go to offer your hands to the shackles that are already prepared for you. 1784 Cowper Task ii. 42 Slaves cannot breathe in England;..They touch our country, and their shackles fall. 1852 Mrs. Stowe Uncle Tom's C. x, Haley, drawing out from under the waggon-seat a heavy pair of shackles, made them fast around each ankle. 1864 Seaton Cadet to Colonel xiii. 272 Shackles were put on their legs. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Shackles, semicircular clumps of iron sliding upon a round bar, in which the legs of prisoners are occasionally confined on deck. Manacles when applied to the wrists. |
c. Her. A shackle used as a bearing.
| 1780 Edmondson Her. II. Gloss. In mod. Dicts. |
2. fig. and in figurative context. Applied to restraint on freedom of action. Chiefly in pl.
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 94 Auh ancren..schulen beon þer [i.e. in heaven]..lihture & swifture & ine so wide scheakeles pleien ine heouene, ase me seið ine heouene is large leswe, þet tet bodi schal beon hwar so euer þe gost wule, in one hondhwule. a 1400 Minor Poems Vernon MS. 145/13 For synne is cald þe deueles schakel, His net, his tool, his takyng takel. a 1592 Greene Mamillia ii. Ded., Wks. (Grosart) II. 142 Staying thus in suspence, I shaked off the shakles with calling to remembraunce the saying of a poore Painter in Sienna, who [etc.]. 1681 Temple Mem. iii. Wks. 1731 I. 337 They would leave the Crown after him in Shackles, which..would not be easily knock'd off by any Successor. 1690 C. Nesse Hist. & Myst. O. & N. Test. I. 13 This body is become a prison, a shackle, a sepulchre to the soul. 1738 Gentl. Mag. VIII. 4/1 To knock off the Shackles of Ignorance and Prejudice. 1752 Young Brothers ii. i, Virtue's a shackle, under fair disguise, To fetter fools, while we bear off the prize. 1776 Mickle tr. Camoens' Lusiad Introd. 152 That rhyme makes the poet walk in shackles is denied. 1872 Yeats Growth Comm. 281 Elizabeth..removed the chief shackle upon British trade. |
b. the shackles: the bonds of matrimony.
| [c 1460 Towneley Myst. xiii. 72 Bot begyn she to crok, To groyne or to clok, Wo is hym is of oure cok, ffor he is in the shekyls.] 1780 Mirror No. 89 Were I to enter the shackles, I have too much regard to my own ease to chuse a lady of reflection. |
† 3. A fetter-like bond, esp. one used as an ornament, an armlet or anklet. Obs. rare.
| 1571–2 in Nichols Progr. Eliz. (1823) I. 294 An armlet or skakell [sic] of golde. 1634 Sir T. Herbert Trav. 10 They bury his Armolets, Bracelets, Shackles and such Treasure. 1697 W. Dampier Voy. I. 514 Most of the Men and Women on the Island..had all Ear-rings made of Gold, and Gold Shackles about their Legs and Arms. |
4. [Short for shackle-bone.] The wrist; also rarely the ankle. dial.
| 1788 W. H. Marshall Yorksh. II. 350 Shackle of the arm, the wrist. 1861 C. C. Robinson Dial. Leeds, Shackle, the wrist. ‘Spreined one o' my shackles’. 1902 C. J. C. Hyne Thompson's Progr. 195 ‘T' sheckle willn't mend{ddd}’.. The fool of a woman ought to have had her shackle set at the infirmary. |
5. a. A hobble for a horse. ? Obs.
| 1529 Acc. Ld. High Treas. Scot. V. 366 Ane pair of schakillis to the grete hors. 1562 Withals Dict. (1568) 38 b/2 Shakels or spannes vpon the horse legges, numelli. 1573 Tusser Husb. (1878) 38 Soles, fetters, and shackles, with horselock and pad. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits (1616) 171 Those shackles which we clap on the legs of an vntrained Mule, which going with them many dayes, taketh a steddie and seemly pace. 1610 Markham Masterp. ii. lxxxiv. 364 If a horse be galled in the pastorne, on the heele, or vpon the cronet, either with shackell or locke, as it many times happens in the Champion countries, where the Farmers vse much to teather their horses: then for such a soare you shall [etc.]. 1814 Southey Roderick xxv. 91 Some sleek and sober mule Long trained in shackles to procession pace. |
b. A chain, rope, twisted band of straw or the like, used for securing cows. Now dial.
| c 1400 Beryn 1064 A plant, whils it is grene..A man may with his fyngirs ply it wher hym list, And make ther-of a shakill, a withey, or a twist. 1858 M. A. Denham in D. Tracts (1891) I. 275 The custom of twisting birch twigs in a peculiar manner, to serve instead of hempen bands for the purpose of tying up cattle. These are called ‘sheakles’. 1869 Peacock Lonsdale Gloss., Shackle,..a cow chain. |
II. In various technical senses.
6. A ring, clevis, or similar device, used for attaching or coupling, so as to leave some degree of freedom of movement; often a U-shaped piece of iron, closed by a movable bar passing through holes in the ends. a. A coupling for a plough, harrow, wagon, carriage, etc.
| 1343 Durham Acc. Rolls (Surtees) 205, 1 clitta pro molde⁓bredd; 2 schackles de ferro pro carucis; 2 coupewaynes. Ibid. 543, 3 Reyns, 3 paribus de pastrons, 3 Schakles et 1 croper pro longa carecta, 26s. 9d. 1422–3 Ibid. 619 Pro 5 novis Reynes de corr. pro stabulo d'ni Prioris, 3 Shakelys de correo, 2 heltres de corr. 1523–34 Fitzherb. Husb. §15. C 4 b, The fote teame shall be fastened to the same [i.e. ‘the formest slote’ of the harrow] with a shakyll, or a withe to drawe by. 1530 Knaresb. Wills (Surtees) I. 27 A wayne and yoke with bolte and shakyll. 1832 Scoreby Farm Rep. 3 in Libr. Usef. Knowl., Husb. III, The price charged..is for the plough fit for use, but not including the shackle, by which it is drawn and regulated. 1881 J. W. Burgess Coach-Building x. 98 Shackles are iron staples, which serve to receive the leather suspension braces of C spring carriages on the springs; they are also used for coupling springs together. 1894 Northumbld. Gloss., Sheckle, sheakle, shaikle,..the sling that fastens the double-tree to a plough-head or bridle. |
b. Naut. A fastening for a port-hole; a coupling for lengths of chain cable, an anchor, etc.
| 1627 Capt. Smith Seaman's Gram. xiv. 68 Shackels are a kinde of Rings but not round,..fixed to the middest of the ports within boord, through which wee put a billet to keepe fast the port for flying open in foule weather. 1793 Smeaton Edystone L. §142 A large swivel, with shackles and bolts,..the western chain..joined to the eastern..by a bolt and shackle. 1805 Shipwright's Vade-M. 130 Shackles, the small ring-bolts driven into the ports, or scuttles, and through which the lashing passes when the ports are barred in. 1831 J. Holland Manuf. Metal I. 190 A large shackle is also fixed at one end to be joined to the anchor. 1875 Bedford Sailor's Pocket Bk. x. (ed. 2) 363 Each length is to be provided with a shackle and shackle bolt, to be tested as part of the chain. 1891 Winn Boating Man's Vade-M. 78 Shackle is a small half hoop shaped iron, fitted with a screw pin connecting the two open ends. Anchor shackles have the lug or pin countersunk [etc.]. |
c. A ring, hook, or the like for lifting, holding, carrying, etc. a weight or something heavy.
| 1552 in R. H. Hore Wexford (1901) II. 243, 2 Iron Shackells for bucketts. 1896 Westm. Gaz. 2 Nov. 10/1 The immense wooden beams on which it [the bell] formerly hung have long since been broken down at the shackle. |
d. The hinged and curved bar of a padlock which passes through the staple.
| 1850 Chubb Locks & Keys 7. |
7. Telegr. A form of insulator used in overhead lines for supporting the wire where a sharp angle occurs.
| 1855 Lardner's Mus. Sci. & Art III. 143 The conducting wire of the main line in passing the station is cut and the ends jointed by a shackle. 1859 Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Electr. & Magn. 288 Non-conducting shackles (used at stations to break the continuity of the wire) consist of a solid piece of gutta percha inserted into metal hooks [etc.]. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 213 A special form of insulator known as a shackle is employed, which confines the strain of the wire to one spot. Ibid. 214 The shackle is formed of porcelain, with a hole through the centre, into which a 4½in. bolt is inserted. |
8. A device for gripping anything; spec. ‘either of the pivoted gripping devices for holding a test piece in a testing machine’ (Webster 1911).
| 1838 Civ. Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 380/1 A shackle was placed round the centre of the block [of concrete], and two others at the extremities. |
9. A length of cable 12½ fathoms (orig. the distance between two ‘shackles’, in sense 6 b).
| 1886 J. M. Caulfeild Seamanship Notes 4 The length of the bower cable is generally 12 shackles, a shackle is 12½ fathoms. |
† 10. Some implement used by chimney-sweepers; ? a link for fastening poles together. Obs.
| 1719 D'Urfey Pills IV. 198 A Chimny-sweeper, with his Brooms, his Poles and Shackles. |
III. 11. attrib. and Comb., shackle-bar, (a) the swingle-tree of a coach, etc.; (b) U.S. ‘the coupling between a locomotive and its tender’ (Webster 1864); shackle-breeching (see quot.); shackle-crow, ‘a bar of iron slightly bent at one end like the common crow, but with a shackle instead of a claw at the end{ddd}used for drawing bolts or deck-nails’ (Smyth Sailor's Word-bk. 1867); † shackle-dancer, a performer who dances in shackles; † shackle-gall, a sore under the fetlock of a horse, caused by the galling of the shackle (cf. 5 a); hence shackle-galled adj.; † shackle-hammed a., knock-kneed; so also † shackle-hams, knock-knees; shackle-head dial., a seine-net; shackle-irons dial., hand-cuffs; shackle-jack (see quot.); shackle-joint, (a) a joint in the form of a shackle (sense 6), esp. one for adjusting the tension of rods, wires, etc.; (b) a peculiar kind of articulation in the vertebræ of some fishes (see quot. 1872); shackle-net dial. (see quots.); shackle-pin, † (a) the pin or bolt of a shackle; (b) ‘the small pin of wood or iron that confines a shackle-bolt in place’ (Cent. Dict. 1891); shackle-plate (see quot.); † shackle-vein, ‘a vein of the horse, apparently the median ante-brachial, from which blood used to be let’ (Cent. Dict.); † shackle-wise adv., in the form of a shackle. See also shackle-bolt, shackle-bone.
| 1834 D. Walker's Manly Exerc. 201 *Shackle- or swing⁓bars. |
| 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., *Shackle-breeching, two shackles are turned into [i.e. fastened to] the breeching, by which it is instantly disconnected from the port-ringbolts. |
| 1709 E. Smith Poem Death J. Philips 102 So the stretch'd Cord the *Shackle-Dancer tries. |
| 1596 L. Mascall Bk. Cattle ii. Horses 164 *Shakell-gall, is on the pastornes. 1627 J. Taylor (Water-P.) Armado C 6, The Chinegall, the Nauellgall, Windgall, Spurgall, Lightgall, and Shacklegall. |
| 1684 Lond. Gaz. 1958/4 Her two fore Feet *Shackel-gald. |
| 1592 Greene Upst. Courtier D 1 b, His legges *shackle hamd, as if his knees had beene laced to his thighes with points. 1674 Lond. Gaz. No. 907/4 A Red Roan Nag about 13 hands high, shakle hammed. 1750 W. Ellis Mod. Husbandm. III. i. 180 (E.D.D.) Colts broken too young are often shackle-hammed. |
| 1603 H. Crosse Vertues Commw. (1878) 132 The Grashopper..with his *shackle hammes weakely skips too and fro. |
| 1762 Gentl. Mag. June 287/2 If I lies than Bessy, than I wishes The *Shackleheads may never close the fishes. |
| 1876 Whitby Gloss., *Shackle-irons, prison hand-cuffs. 1896 J. K. Snowden Web of Old Weaver xv. (1897) 176, I looked to be taen any day, and I did not want all to see me wear the shackle⁓irons. |
| 1875 Knight Dict. Mech., *Shackle-jack, an implement for attaching the thills to the shackle on the axle where an anti-rattling box of india-rubber is used. |
| 1837 Civ. Engin. & Arch. Jrnl. I. 48 A round wrought-iron tie-bar..with a *shackle joint in the centre. 1872 Mivart Anat. ii. 25 Some spiny bones of Siluroid fishes have a perforation at their base, through which passes a bony ring..a shackle⁓joint. |
| 1824 [Carr] Craven Gloss., *Shackle-net, a net, called a flue. |
| 1446 Wills & Inv. N.C. (Surtees 1835) 95, vij shakels ferri, unde ij sine *shakelpynnez et v cum shakylpynnez ferri. |
| 1874 Thearle Naval Archit. 67 At K is shown a *shackle plate to receive rudder pendants, which secure the rudder to the vessel in the event of the former becoming accidentally unshipped. |
| 1607 Markham Caval. vii. ix. 22 The cuer is to let them blood very much in the *shackle veins to draw the humors from the vpper parts. 1610 ― Masterp. ii. cxv. 414 A slender string, which commeth from the shackell veine to the gristell in the nose and betweene the lippe. 1639 T. de la Grey Compl. Horsem. 347 Take up the shackle veynes. |
| 1596 L. Mascall Bk. Cattle i. 73 Yee shall fasten them vnto the postes, with a bowe-withe made *shacle wise. |
▪ II. ˈshackle, n.2 dial.
[f. shake v.: see -le.]
1. Stubble.
| a 1800 Pegge Suppl. Grose, Shackle, stubble. Herefordsh. |
2. a. Sc. silver shackle: the quaking-grass, Briza media. (Cf. silver shaker, shaker 7.) b. pl. The yellow rattle, Rhinanthus Crista-galli (E.D.D.).
| a 1824 in Mactaggart's Gallovid. Encycl. 427 The sillar shakle wags its pow, Upon the brae. |
3. A game of dice; a raffle. Cf. shake n. 2 g.
| 1881 Chequered Career 350 The shanty-keeper now produces the dice-box and proposes a ‘shackle’. 1885 Western Gaz. 30 Jan. in N. & Q. Ser. vi. XI. 245/2 He..was asked by a young man to join in a ‘shackle’ for live tame rabbits. He consented, and a box was brought containing three threepenny pieces, and those who threw the highest gained the rabbits. |
▪ III. shackle, n.3
(ˈʃæk(ə)l)
[See shack n.3]
= shack n.3
| 1835 D. Webster Original Scottish Rhymes 194 There'll be gude tents an' shachels For drinkers to roar an' to rift. 1890 Advance (Chicago) 18 Sept., I found lots of families living in the most miserable shackles. |
▪ IV. shackle, v.1
(ˈʃæk(ə)l)
Forms: 5 schaklyn, -ylle, 6 shakel, shakle, shakkle, 6–7 shackel, 6– shackle.
[f. shackle n.1]
1. trans. To confine with shackles; to put a shackle or shackles on.
| c 1440 Promp. Parv. 443/2 Schaklyn, numello. c 1530 Hickscorner 237 (Manly) In Newgate we dwelled togyder, For he and I were bothe shakeled in a fetter. a 1548 Hall Chron., Hen. IV, 20 Edmond Mortimer..whome..Owen Glendor kepte in filthy prison shakeled with yrons. 1577 B. Googe Heresbach's Husb. iv. (1586) 158 This mischiefe you may easily preuent, with shackling him with a shooe sole. 1635 Swan Spec. M. vi. §4 (1643) 252 To find their horses unfettered in the morning, although they were fast shackled over night. 1760–72 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. (1809) III. 90 Sore and shackled as I was, I got..on deck. 1874 Green Short Hist. iii. §5 (1882) 139 A smith was ordered to shackle him. 1886 Stevenson Kidnapped xviii, It's harder yet to lie shackled in a red-coat prison. |
b. of a chain.
| 1646 H. Lawrence Comm. Angels 58 These chaines shall shackle and binde them for ever. |
2. transf. and fig.
| a 1568 R. Ascham Scholem. ii. (Arb.) 121 They will say, it were a plaine slauerie, and iniurie to, to shakkle and tye a good witte. 1594 Carew Huarte's Exam. Wits i. (1596) 7 Our vnderstanding shackled with the rules and precepts of Logicke. 1655 Nicholas Papers (Camden) II. 245 The last post day I was shackled in my bed with an humour fallen into my right foot. 1692 R. L'Estrange Fables lxxv. 74 His Claws were so Shackled in the Fleece..that the Shepherd..caught him. 1763 Mills Pract. Husb. IV. 345 Moss likewise, which shackles the vine, as with a fetter,..must be carefully scraped off. 1779 J. Moore View Soc. Fr. I. xv. 123 Had she been shackled to a morose,..jealous fellow..the case would have been different. 1879 Farrar St. Paul (1883) 326 The views of Paul were..less shackled by associations. 1901 Earl Spencer in Parl. Deb. 5 July 948 The work which they did hindered and shackled me in my endeavours to do what I considered right..for the Navy. |
† 3. Chem. To fix in combination. Obs.
| 1675 Grew Anat. Pl. Lect. vi. iv. (1682) 288 A Sulphur well impregnated, either with an Alkaline, or an Acid Salt, but also shackled with Earth. 1681 ― Musæum ii. §ii. ii. 224 A little of that Fixed Salt, serves, it seems, to Shackle or Crystallize..a very great quantity of the Essential Salt of this Plant. 1694 Westmacott Script. Herb. 227 Sulphur, well impregnated with an Alkaline Salt, shackled with Earth. |
4. To join, couple, or fix by means of a shackle.
| 1834–5 M. Scott Cruise Midge i. I. 18 Its [the yard's] heavy iron-shod heel was shackelled by a chain of a fathom long, to a strong iron-bar. 1845 Ann. Reg. 131/2 A goods truck was placed across the up line at the ‘points’..ready to be shackled to a down train. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 171 Shackle the cable. |
b. intr. for refl.
| 1865 Times 19 Aug. 9/3 Up came the cable and wire rope shackling together on the V-wheel in the bow. 1882 Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 50 The foremost ends shackle on to dolphin striker. |
5. Telegr. To attach to or furnish with a shackle (shackle n.1 7). to shackle off: to terminate (involving the use of a shackle).
| 1852 in Abridgm. Specif. Patents, Electr. & Magn. (1859) 257 Shackling the wires. 1876 Preece & Sivewright Telegraphy 224 When the wire has to be terminated, or ‘shackled off’, as it is termed, at intermediate points. 1910 N. Hawkins' Electr. Dict., Shackling, connecting a line wire to a shackle insulator. |
Hence ˈshackling vbl. n. and ppl. a.
| 1556 J. Heywood Sp. & Flie lxxii. 20 Rather then bide their perpetuall shakling, To stand agaynst them, and stick to our takling. 1674 N. Fairfax Bulk & Selv. 3 A medly made to the everlasting shackling of that head or question. 1753 Hogarth Anal. Beauty xvii. 229 They then have recourse to steel collars and other iron machines [to prevent children from stooping]; all which shacklings are repugnant to nature, and may make the body grow crooked. 1861 Paley æschylus (ed. 2) Choeph. 484 note, The entangling and shackling garment called ποδιστὴρ πέπλος. 1862 Carlyle Fredk. Gt. xi. i. (1865) IV. 13 Censorship, or the shackling of men's poor tongues and pens. 1894 Blackmore Perlycross 307 For the miserable floods, and the long snowtime, and the shackling of the stream is over. |
▪ V. ˈshackle, v.2 dial.
(See Eng. Dial. Dict. for other senses, and forms.)
[Frequentative f. shake v.]
1. trans. To lay (standing corn); also, to litter, disorder (see Eng. Dial. Dict.). Also to send hogs a shackling, to send them to feed in the stubble (cf. shack n.1 and v.1).
| 1670 Eachard Cont. Clergy 83 Every neighbour's horse or cow, that breaks their hedges, or shackles their corn. 1790 Grose Prov. Gloss. (ed. 2) s.v. Shacking, To send hogs a shackling, to send hogs to feed in the stubble. Essex. 1891 Rutland Gloss. s.v., After some heavy rain the corn is ‘so shackled that you cannot reap it’. |
2. intr. To idle or loaf about, to shirk work. (Cf. shack v.2)
| 1809 Batchelor Anal. Eng. Lang. 143 Shakling, idling. 1845 F. E. Paget Tales Village Childr. Ser. ii. 120 That good-for-nothing fellow, rat-catcher Falkener, who is always shackling about. 1859 ― Curate Cumberworth 266 There's a lot of lads that are always shackling about, ready for any mischief on Sundays. |
▪ VI. shackle
variant of shauchle v. Sc.