handcuff

Noun

handcuff (plural handcuffs)

1. One ring of a locking fetter for the hand or one pair.

Synonyms

• manacle

Hypernyms

• shackle

Verb

to handcuff (third-person singular simple present handcuffs, present participle handcuffing, simple past and past participle handcuffed)

1. To apply handcuffs to; to manacle. - Hay (1754)
2. (figuratively) to restrain or restrict.

   Dang, I’m handcuffed by these regulations. I’d like to help but it’d be illegal.

Handcuffs are restraint devices designed to secure an individual's wrists close together. They comprise two parts, linked together by a chain, a hinge or in the case of rigid cuffs, a bar. Each half has a rotating arm which engages with a ratchet that prevents it from being opened once closed around a person's wrist. Without the key, the handcuffs cannot be removed and so the handcuffed person is unable to move his or her wrists more than a few centimetres/inches apart, making many tasks difficult or impossible. This is usually done to prevent suspected criminals from escaping police custody.