handcuffs

English

A pair of handcuffs.

Etymology 1

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.

Noun

handcuffs pl (plural only)

1. A fastening consisting of two metal rings, designed to go around a person's wrists, and connected by a chain or hinge.
   • 2014 November 27, Ian Black, “Courts kept busy as Jordan works to crush support for Isis”, in The Guardian:

     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.

Synonyms

• manacles
• shackles

Derived terms

• Chinese handcuffs
• digital handcuffs
• golden handcuffs
• velvet handcuffs

 

Related terms

• handcuff

Translations

metal rings for fastening wrists

• Alabama: ilbistalsiha
• Arabic: أَصْفَاد f pl (ʔaṣfād), أَغْلَال f pl (ʔaḡlāl)

  Hijazi Arabic: كَلَبْشة f (kalabša)

• Azerbaijani: qandal (az)
• Basque: esku lota
• Belarusian: кайда́нкі f pl (kajdánki), нару́чнікі m pl (narúčniki)
• Bulgarian: белезни́ци (bg) f pl (belezníci)
• Catalan: manilles (ca) f pl
• Chinese:

  Mandarin: 手銬／手铐 (zh) (shǒukào)

• Czech: pouta (cs) n pl, želízka n pl
• Danish: håndjern n pl
• Dutch: handboeien (nl)
• Esperanto: mankateno
• Estonian: käerauad pl
• Finnish: käsiraudat (fi) pl
• French: menottes (fr) f pl
• Georgian: ხელბორკილი (xelborḳili)
• German: Handschellen (de) f pl, Handfesseln (de) f pl
• Greek: χειροπέδες (el) f pl (cheiropédes)
• Hebrew: אֲזִקִּים (he) m pl (aziqím)
• Hindi: हथकड़ी (hi) f (hathakṛī)
• Hungarian: bilincs (hu)
• Icelandic: handjárn n pl
• Ido: manoto (io)
• Indonesian: borgol (id)
• Interlingua: manica
• Irish: glais lámh m pl
• Italian: manette (it) f
• Japanese: 手錠 (ja) (てじょう, tejō)
• Khmer: ខ្នោះដៃ (knɑh day)
• Korean: 수갑(手匣) (ko) (sugap)
• Kurdish:

  Central Kurdish: کەلەپچە (kelepçe)

• Kyrgyz: кишен (kişen)
• Latin: manicae f pl
• Macedonian: лисици f pl (lisici)
• Malvi: हातकड़ी f (hātakṛī)
• Manchu: ᠰᠠᠩᠰᡝ (sangse)
• Norwegian:

  Bokmål: håndjern n pl

• Persian: دست‌بند (fa) (dast-band)
• Plautdietsch: Spaunsel n
• Polish: kajdanki (pl) pl
• Portuguese: algema (pt) m
• Romanian: cătușe (ro) f pl
• Russian: нару́чники (ru) m pl (narúčniki)
• Serbo-Croatian:

  Cyrillic: лисице f pl

  Latin script: lisice (sh) f pl

• Slovak: putá n pl, želiezka n pl
• Slovene: lisice f pl
• Spanish: esposas (es) f pl, grilletes (es) m pl, marrocas f pl, chachas f pl
• Swedish: handbojor (sv) c pl, handklovar (sv) c pl
• Tagalog: posas
• Telugu: సంకెళ్ళు (te) (saṅkeḷḷu)
• Thai: กุญแจมือ (th) (gun-jɛɛ-mʉʉ)
• Turkish: kelepçe (tr)
• Ukrainian: нару́чники m pl (narúčnyky)
• Urdu: ہتھکڑی f (hathakṛī)
• Uzbek: qoʻlkishan
• Vietnamese: còng (vi), còng tay, còng số tám, còng số 8

Etymology 2

Noun

handcuffs

1. plural of handcuff

Etymology 3

Verb

handcuffs

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of handcuff