handcuff
a ring-shaped metal device that can be locked around a person's wrist, usually one of a pair connected by a short chain or linked bar; shackle: The police put handcuffs on the suspect.
to put handcuffs on.
to restrain or thwart (someone) by or as if by handcuffing: The amendments handcuffed the committee and prevented further action.
Origin of handcuff
1Other words from handcuff
- un·hand·cuff, verb (used with object)
Words Nearby handcuff
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024
How to use handcuff in a sentence
As two officers then try and put the girl—who is now in handcuffs—in the car, she repeatedly screams, “I want my Dad.”
Police Investigation Underway After 9-Year-Old Girl Pepper Sprayed During Arrest in Rochester, New York | Josiah Bates | February 2, 2021 | TimeOthers wore tactical gear or brought zip ties, which can be used as handcuffs, officials said.
He wore a Taser holstered to his hip and gripped a bunch of zip-tie handcuffs in one hand.
Trumpist masculinity reaches its high water mark | Monica Hesse | January 12, 2021 | Washington PostAfter deputies removed Boney in handcuffs, the judge withdrew the contempt charge but said the publisher still had to be escorted from the building.
A North Carolina judge is blocking journalists from his courtroom. One objected — and got handcuffed. | Elahe Izadi, Mark Berman | December 11, 2020 | Washington PostMember Margaret Lorber said she simply cannot accept the idea of guns and handcuffs in schools.
Alexandria City Public Schools approves revisions to contract with police | Hannah Natanson | October 30, 2020 | Washington Post
Tihen had insisted he was in her lap as she struggled to handcuff him.
From Ferguson Cop Embroiled in a Brutality Suit to City Councilwoman | Michael Daly | August 20, 2014 | THE DAILY BEASTBut she surprised these cops just as she had the officers back in December, when she managed to wiggle free of a handcuff.
In Months Before Wild Capitol Scene, Miriam Carey Battled Psychosis | Michael Daly | October 5, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTThere are psychological chains and restraints that are so much stronger than any steel chain or handcuff.
For the Cleveland Kidnapping Victims, a Tragic Sisterhood | Christine Pelisek | May 10, 2013 | THE DAILY BEASTPolice say that Thomas resisted arrested, so they had to handcuff her and forced her to the ground.
In Los Angeles, Questions of Police Brutality Dog LAPD | Christine Pelisek | November 24, 2012 | THE DAILY BEASTCourt documents say she was nude with a handcuff still attached to her wrist.
And keep your eyes on me; if I act in the least peculiar, handcuff me—but don't knock me out.
The Penal Cluster | Ivar Jorgensen (AKA Randall Garrett)Bill said that he thought that bruin was about to make up his mind to let us take off that handcuff.
Fifty Years a Hunter and Trapper | Eldred Nathaniel WoodcockHe unwound the rope which he had brought along and secured one circle of a double handcuff to his left wrist.
The Incendiary | W. A. (William Augustine) LeahyA white mark, which slowly changed to red, showed where Delaney had clamped the handcuff down to its last notch.
Whispering Wires | Henry Leverage"Why, he threatened to handcuff me and take me to jail if I didn't tell him all about Mr. Whitmore's death," complained Collins.
The Substitute Prisoner | Max Marcin
British Dictionary definitions for handcuff
/ (ˈhændˌkʌf) /
(tr) to put handcuffs on (a person); manacle
(plural) a pair of locking metal rings joined by a short bar or chain for securing prisoners, etc
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012
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