1
as in binding
to confine or restrain with or as if with chains
wanted to take the trip, but was handcuffed by her responsibility to watch her ailing father
Synonyms & Similar Words
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in impeding
to create difficulty for the work or activity of
the fear that the new mandatory, standardized tests will handcuff the state's teachers, who will have to specifically tailor their lesson plans for the test
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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
Example Sentences
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Recent Examples of handcuffing
The officer around the man's neck then moves his hands to assist the other two officers in handcuffing the man, and replaces his hands with his knee on the man's head and neck.
—
Hayley Walker, NBC news, 14 Jan. 2026
Video from Ford Fischer with News2Share showed agents roughly handcuffing the man with his face on the pavement, and carrying him away as people in the area yelled, honked and blew whistles.
—Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 12 Jan. 2026
The clip posted by the White House begins with footage of a protest against ICE operations before cutting to a montage of agents handcuffing and detaining people.
—Luke Fountain, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2025
The recording depicts at least three agents pushing Enriquez to the ground and handcuffing him.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2025
Law enforcement began handcuffing and pulling people sitting in front of the office’s gates.
—Katie Langford, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
Moments later, police officers suddenly surrounded him, ordering him to the ground and handcuffing him, the local station reported.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2025
Soon after, four police officers can be seen running up to him and tackling him to the ground before handcuffing him and searching his belongings.
—Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
The footage also shows officers handcuffing him.
—Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 1 Oct. 2025
Hayley Walker, NBC news, 14 Jan. 2026
Video from Ford Fischer with News2Share showed agents roughly handcuffing the man with his face on the pavement, and carrying him away as people in the area yelled, honked and blew whistles.
—Mara H. Gottfried, Twin Cities, 12 Jan. 2026
The clip posted by the White House begins with footage of a protest against ICE operations before cutting to a montage of agents handcuffing and detaining people.
—Luke Fountain, CNBC, 2 Dec. 2025
The recording depicts at least three agents pushing Enriquez to the ground and handcuffing him.
—Billal Rahman, MSNBC Newsweek, 17 Nov. 2025
Law enforcement began handcuffing and pulling people sitting in front of the office’s gates.
—Katie Langford, Denver Post, 28 Oct. 2025
Moments later, police officers suddenly surrounded him, ordering him to the ground and handcuffing him, the local station reported.
—Bonny Chu, FOXNews.com, 27 Oct. 2025
Soon after, four police officers can be seen running up to him and tackling him to the ground before handcuffing him and searching his belongings.
—Charlotte Phillipp, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025
The footage also shows officers handcuffing him.
—Jessica Nicholson, Billboard, 1 Oct. 2025
Recent Examples of Synonyms for handcuffing
Verb
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Because of this binding effect, kratom can be addictive.—
Gary Kirkilas II,
Boston Herald,
1 Feb. 2026
-
While the date isn’t necessarily binding—the discretionary target may present an opportunity for Main Street to continue its fundraising efforts into next week—the situation is a source of great concern for the 29 MLB, NBA and NHL franchises whose local TV rights are tied to the RSN group.—
Anthony Crupi,
Sportico.com,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Homan says in the past month, 158 people have been arrested for impeding or assaulting federal officers, with 85 cases already accepted for prosecution.—
Ashley Grams,
CBS News,
6 Feb. 2026
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Federal prosecutors secured an indictment against Laryen Torres-Carmona in September, charging the 26-year-old with two counts of assaulting, resisting or impeding federal officers.—
Monroe Trombly,
Louisville Courier Journal,
6 Feb. 2026
Verb
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In the snow and wind, Broncos kicker Wil Lutz lined up for a potential game-tying field goal with less than five minutes left in the AFC title game.—
Zack Rosenblatt,
New York Times,
4 Feb. 2026
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Pritchard scored 15 points in the first half on 7-of-10 shooting, and the Celtics didn't trail again after Brown hit a tying 3-pointer and scored again from long range midway through the first quarter.—
CBS News,
CBS News,
4 Feb. 2026
Verb
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The wintry blast, after hampering malls and stores Sunday, is making travel challenging Monday with roads still presenting treacherous conditions, coated by a mixture of frozen precipitation.—
Brian Womack,
Dallas Morning News,
26 Jan. 2026
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Elon Musk warned the biggest issue hampering AI advancement in the United States is a problem Chinese competitors don’t have.—
Sasha Rogelberg,
Fortune,
22 Jan. 2026
Verb
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This pattern will suppress widespread snowfall, confining wintry weather mainly to the Great Lakes, the Northeast, and higher mountain elevations.—
Mary Wasson,
Austin American Statesman,
23 Dec. 2025
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Previously, the concept of corralling — confining entities — had been demonstrated only for photons and electrons; this is the first time it has been achieved with atoms.—
Mrigakshi Dixit,
Interesting Engineering,
9 Dec. 2025
Verb
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The instigators were allowed to go beyond peaceful protests to hindering law enforcement from doing their job which escalated with the result of two people tragically losing their lives.—
Voice of the People,
New York Daily News,
1 Feb. 2026
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Anyone raising these concerns last season, when Arsenal finished in a distant second place, would be politely informed that the only curb on their creativity was the injuries that were hindering Martin Odegaard and Bukayo Saka.—
Oliver Kay,
New York Times,
30 Jan. 2026
Verb
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In Wisconsin, a bill that would restrict shackling inmates while in labor — something most states already ban — has repeatedly failed to pass the state Legislature.—
Jon Schuppe,
NBC news,
18 Dec. 2025
Verb
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Also, the amount of sunlight that reaches an area can change dramatically over the growing season, so re-check every week or so to make sure nothing is obstructing access to sunlight.—
Kerry Michaels,
The Spruce,
5 Feb. 2026
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Indeed, some emergency routes have huge mountains of snowy ice chunks obstructing more than one lane of the road because the snowplows could not move the snow to the side of the road due to all of the bike lane obstacles .—
Reader Commentary,
Baltimore Sun,
4 Feb. 2026
Cite this Entry
“Handcuffing.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/handcuffing. Accessed 9 Feb. 2026.
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