handcuffs
/ˈhændˌkʌfs/
handcuffs noun: a fastening consisting of two metal rings, designed to go around a person's wrists, and connected by a chain or hinge. Also the plural of handcuff.
Noun
handcuffs pl (plural only)
- A fastening consisting of two metal rings, designed to go around a person's wrists, and connected by a chain or hinge.
- It was the sergeant who had spoken to me, and he was now looking round at the company, with his handcuffs invitingly extended towards them in his right hand, and his left on my shoulder.1860 December – 1861 August, Charles Dickens, chapter V, in Great Expectations […], volume I, London: Chapman and Hall, […], published October 1861, →OCLC, page 61
- Security is tight inside and outside the building, guarded by a bewildering collection of soldiers, policemen and gendarmes. Relatives watch as prisoners in handcuffs and leg irons shuffle past.2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian
- Any abstract constraint, such as rules, regulations, or lack of resources.
- They complained that their rules of engagement were handcuffs that guaranteed counterproductivity.
Also used as
handcuffs is also the plural of handcuff.
handcuffs is also the third-person singular simple present indicative of handcuff.
handcuffs meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
handcuffs in Hindi
- metal rings for fastening wrists
- हथकड़ी hathakṛī
handcuffs in Tamil
- metal rings for fastening wrists
- கைவிலங்கு kaivilaṅku
handcuffs in Marathi
- हातकड्या
handcuffs in Urdu
- metal rings for fastening wrists
- ہَتَھکْڑی hathakṛī, ہَتْھکَڑی hathkaṛī
More languagesFewer languages
- handcuffs in Bengali
- হাতকড়া hatkoṛa
- handcuffs in Telugu
- సంకెళ్ళు saṅkeḷḷu
- handcuffs in Malayalam
- കൈവിലങ്ങുകൾ, കൈവിലക്കുകൾ
- handcuffs in Kannada
- ಕೈಕೋಳಗಳು, ಕೈಕೋಳಗಳನ್ನು
- handcuffs in Gujarati
- હાથકડીઓ
- handcuffs in Odia
- ହାତକଡ଼ି
- handcuffs in Nepali
- ह्यान्डकफहरू, हातकडीहरू, हातकड्डीहरू
- handcuffs in Pashto
- کړۍ karhay
- handcuffs in Tagalog
- posas
- handcuffs in Arabic
- أَصْفَاد ʔaṣfād, أَغْلَال ʔaḡlāl
- handcuffs in Malay
- gari
- handcuffs in Indonesian
- borgol
- handcuffs in Thai
- กุญแจมือ gun-jɛɛ-mʉʉ
- handcuffs in Vietnamese
- còng, còng tay, còng số tám
- handcuffs in Myanmar
- လက်ထိတ် lakhtit
Synonyms of handcuffs
Origin of handcuffs
1775, from hand + cuff (“end of shirtsleeve”). Possibly influenced by Old English handcops, from hand + cops (“fetter, chains”), but due to lack of continuity (centuries between Old English and modern term), generally analyzed as a re-invention.
Words formed from handcuffs
Questions about handcuffs
- What does handcuffs mean?
- Handcuffs means a fastening consisting of two metal rings, designed to go around a person's wrists, and connected by a chain or hinge.
- What is handcuffs in Hindi?
- Handcuffs in Hindi is हथकड़ी (hathakṛī). See Handcuffs meaning in Hindi.
- What part of speech is handcuffs?
- Handcuffs is a noun.
- How do you pronounce handcuffs?
- Handcuffs is pronounced /ˈhændˌkʌfs/.
Words near handcuffs in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: handcuffs (page history and authors); handcuffs (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); handcuffs (Malayalam, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); handcuffs (Kannada, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); handcuffs (Gujarati, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); handcuffs (Odia, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); handcuffs (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
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Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-handcuffs.wav.
Cite this entry: “handcuffs.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/handcuffs. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.