- [countable, usually plural]
a metal ring placed around a prisoner’s wrist or ankle and joined by a chain to something, or to a shackle on the other wrist or ankle, to prevent the prisoner from escaping or moving easily 镣铐；手铐；脚镣 - shackles[plural] shackles (of something) (formal)
a particular state, set of conditions or circumstances, etc. that prevent you from saying or doing what you want 枷锁；桎梏；束缚 a country struggling to free itself from the shackles of colonialism 为摆脱殖民主义的枷锁而斗争的国家
Word OriginOld English sc(e)acul ‘fetter’, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch schakel ‘link, coupling’.