MEANING
To confine movement or freedom through restraints or restrictive conditions.
Use it for
Words that belong together
- shackle a prisoner
- shackled by debt
On the page
Debt shackled the council's plans.
Nearby words
Opposite meanings
Word forms
- Base
- shackle
- Past tense
- shackled
- Past participle
- shackled
- Present participle
- shackling
Full tense & aspect guide
- Present
- shackle
- Present continuous
- am/is/are shackling
- Present perfect
- have/has shackled
- Present perfect continuous
- have/has been shackling
- Past
- shackled
- Past continuous
- was/were shackling
- Past perfect
- had shackled
- Past perfect continuous
- had been shackling
- Future
- will shackle
- Future continuous
- will be shackling
- Future perfect
- will have shackled
- Future perfect continuous
- will have been shackling
Choose the auxiliary that agrees with your subject. These are constructions of one word, not separate entries.
Usage notes
Primary category: literary / elevated general. Forms: shackle; shackles; shackled; shackled; shackling Legacy lexical fields mirror sense 1 only. Use numbered sense fields for all meanings. Established modern English lexical item. No separate regional spelling or grammatical inflection entry. Commonness: moderately common. Third-person singular: shackles.
Practice this word in a sentenceYour margin notes
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