handcuff

Etymology

1640, from hand +‎ cuff (“end of shirtsleeve”).^[1]

Possibly an adaptation of Middle English handcops (“shackles for the hand, handcuffs”), from Old English handcops, from hand + cops, cosp (“fetter, chains”), but due to lack of continuity (centuries between Old English and modern term), generally analyzed as a re-invention.^[1]

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): /ˈhændˌkʌf/

• Audio (US)

  (file)

Noun

handcuff (plural handcuffs)

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

Verb

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

1. To apply handcuffs to

   (Can we find and add a quotation of William Hay to this entry?)

2. (figuratively) to restrain or restrict.

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

   • 2016 February 20, “Obituary: Antonin Scalia: Always right”, in The Economist:

     If he were a king, as his swagger and opera-singing occasionally suggested, he would stretch the constitution any way he wanted. In fact, as he admitted with a grin, it handcuffed him.

References