Standard Lemma guide

handcuff

noun · verb · 5 senses · updated from the 2026-07-25 local source snapshot

Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.

Sound

Pronunciation

Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.

  • /ˈhændˌkʌf/
  • US: Recorded audio is listed in the source snapshot.
  • CMU ARPABET: HH AE1 N D K AH2 F Digits mark lexical stress: 1 primary, 2 secondary, 0 unstressed.

1

noun

Meaning 1

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

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: rare, singular

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: manacle, wristlet

Antonyms: none provided

2

verb

Meaning 2

To apply handcuffs to someone.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: transitive

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

3

verb

Meaning 3

to restrain or restrict.

Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract

Usage: figuratively, transitive

Examples

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

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: none provided

Antonyms: none provided

4

noun

Meaning 4

shackle that consists of a metal loop that can be locked around the wrist; usually used in pairs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

No example sentence was provided for this meaning.

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: cuff, handlock, manacle

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: shackle, bond, hamper, trammel

5

verb

Meaning 5

confine or restrain with or as if with manacles or handcuffs

Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0

Examples

  • The police handcuffed the suspect at the scene of the crime

Meaning relationships

Synonyms: manacle, cuff

Antonyms: none provided

Broader terms: fetter, shackle

History

Etymology

From hand + cuff (“end of shirtsleeve”). 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 a lack of continuity (centuries between Old English and the modern term), generally analyzed as a re-invention. Nominal form first appears c. 1591 in the publications of John Florio. Verbal form first appears c. 1649.

Across languages

Translations

135 source translations are retained for this English entry.

  • Albanian: pranga — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Southern Altai: кижен (kižen) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Arabic: صَفَد (ṣafad) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Arabic: أَصْفَاد (ʔaṣfād) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Arabic: مينوط (minouṭ) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Armenian: ձեռնաշղթա (jeṙnašġtʻa) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Azerbaijani: əl qandalı — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Azerbaijani: qandal — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Belarusian: нару́чнік (narúčnik) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Belarusian: нару́чнікі (narúčniki) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Bengali: হাতকড়া (hatkoṛa) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Bulgarian: белезни́ци (belezníci) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Burmese: လက်ထိတ် (lakhtit) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Catalan: manilla — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Catalan: manilles — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Chinese Cantonese: 手扣 (sau2 kau3) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Chinese Mandarin: 手銬 /手铐 (shǒukào) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Czech: pouta — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Czech: želízka — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Danish: håndjern — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Dutch: handboei — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Esperanto: mankateno — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Estonian: käerauad — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Finnish: käsirauta — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • French: menotte — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Galician: esposas — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Georgian: ხელბორკილი (xelborḳili) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • German: Handschelle — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Greek: χειροπέδα (cheiropéda) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Greek: χειροπέδες (cheiropédes) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Hawaiian: hao hoʻopaʻa lima — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Hebrew: אֲזִקִּים — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Hebrew: אזיק (azík) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Hindi: हथकड़ी (hathkaṛī) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Hungarian: bilincs — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Icelandic: handjárn — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Ido: manoto — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Indonesian: gari — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Indonesian: borgol — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Italian: manetta — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Japanese: 手錠 (tejō) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Kazakh: бұғау (būğau) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Kazakh: қолкісен (qolkısen) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Khmer: ខ្នោះដៃ (khnɑh day) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Korean: 수갑 (sugap) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Northern Kurdish: kelemçe — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Kyrgyz: колкишен (kolkişen) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Kyrgyz: кишен (kişen) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Lao: ກະແຈມື (ka chǣ mư̄) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Latvian: roku dzelži — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Lithuanian: antrankiai — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Luhya: epingu — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Macedonian: лисици (lisici) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Malay: gari — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Malayalam: വിലങ്ങ് (vilaṅṅŭ) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Malayalam: കൈവിലങ്ങ് (kaivilaṅṅŭ) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Mongolian: гав (gav) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Norwegian Bokmål: håndjern — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Norwegian Bokmål: handjern — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: handjarn — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Norwegian Nynorsk: handjern — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Old English: handcosp — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Pashto: اتکړۍ (atkaṛǝy) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Pashto: ولچک (walčǝk) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Pashto: هټکرۍ (haṭakrǝy) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Pashto: هتوړۍ (hatoṛǝy) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Iranian Persian: دَسْتبَنْد (dast-band) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Polish: kajdanki — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Portuguese: algema — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Romanian: cătușă — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Russian: нару́чник (narúčnik) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Russian: нару́чники (narúčniki) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: лѝсице — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Serbo-Croatian: lìsice — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Slovak: putá — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Slovak: náramok — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Slovak: náramky — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Slovene: lisice — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Spanish: esposa — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Spanish: marroca — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Swahili: pingu — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Swedish: handboja — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Tagalog: pangaw — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Tagalog: posas — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Tajik: дастбанд (dastband) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Tajik: кишани даст (kišan-i dast) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Tajik: завлонаи даст (zavlona-yi dast) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Tamil: கைவிலங்கு (kaivilaṅku) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Thai: กุญแจมือ (gun-jɛɛ-mʉʉ) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Turkish: kelepçe — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Turkish: bilekçe — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Ottoman Turkish: بیلكچه (bilekçe) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Ottoman Turkish: كلبچه (kelebçe) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Turkmen: gandal — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Ukrainian: нару́чник (narúčnyk) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Ukrainian: нару́чники (narúčnyky) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Urdu: ہَتْھکَڑی (hathkaṛī) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Uyghur: كويزا (koyza) — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Uzbek: qoʻlkishan — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Vietnamese: còng — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Vietnamese: còng tay — ring of a locking fetter for the hand
  • Arabic: كلبش (kalbaš) — to apply handcuffs
  • Breton: grizilhonañ — to apply handcuffs
  • Bulgarian: слагам белезници (slagam beleznici) — to apply handcuffs
  • Dutch: in de boeien slaan — to apply handcuffs
  • Dutch: handboeien omdoen — to apply handcuffs
  • Dutch: boeien — to apply handcuffs
  • Esperanto: mankateni — to apply handcuffs
  • Finnish: panna käsirautoihin — to apply handcuffs
  • Finnish: laittaa käsiraudat — to apply handcuffs
  • Finnish: käsiraudoittaa — to apply handcuffs
  • French: menotter — to apply handcuffs
  • Galician: esposar — to apply handcuffs
  • German: fesseln — to apply handcuffs
  • Hebrew: אזק (azák) — to apply handcuffs
  • Hungarian: megbilincsel — to apply handcuffs
  • Icelandic: handjárna — to apply handcuffs
  • Italian: ammanettare — to apply handcuffs
  • Macedonian: става лисици (stava lisici) — to apply handcuffs
  • Māori: tūpiki — to apply handcuffs
  • Polish: zakuwać — to apply handcuffs
  • Polish: zakuć — to apply handcuffs
  • Polish: skuwać — to apply handcuffs
  • Polish: skuć — to apply handcuffs
  • Portuguese: algemar — to apply handcuffs
  • Romanian: încătușa — to apply handcuffs
  • Romanian: fereca — to apply handcuffs
  • Spanish: esposar — to apply handcuffs
  • Spanish: enmarrocar — to apply handcuffs
  • Spanish: maniatar — to apply handcuffs
  • Swedish: sätta handbojor på (någon) — to apply handcuffs
  • Turkish: kelepçelemek — to apply handcuffs
  • Finnish: sitoa — figuratively: to restrain
  • Italian: bloccare — figuratively: to restrain
  • Romanian: încătușa — figuratively: to restrain