shackling

verb

present participle of shackle
1
as in binding
to confine or restrain with or as if with chains unwilling to shackle the dogs to the wall of the house

Synonyms & Similar Words

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Antonyms & Near Antonyms
2
as in hampering
to create difficulty for the work or activity of shackled by poverty and ignorance

Synonyms & Similar Words

Antonyms & Near Antonyms

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of shackling Both players played well, Romero shackling Jude Bellingham for much of the evening, Spence producing a famous recovery tackle on Giuliano Simeone when England were 1-0 up. — Jack Pitt-Brooke, New York Times, 12 Aug. 2026 Khushboo Gupta, vice president of policy at PETA India, said the aesthetic appeal of live elephants doesn’t justify shackling, beating and separating them from their families. — ABC News, 3 July 2026 In 2019, David and Louise Turpin pleaded guilty to torture and years of abuse that included shackling some of their 13 children at their home in California, starving them and providing only a minimal education. — Julie Carr Smyth, Los Angeles Times, 1 July 2026 The Baltimore region has suffered too long from underinvestment in transit services — which is shackling economic growth, harming the environment and constraining quality of life for families. — Brandon Scott, Baltimore Sun, 25 Feb. 2026 Men are often the ones in those ICE facilities who are shackling and chaining detainees. — Anna Moeslein, Glamour, 7 Feb. 2026 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
Recent Examples of Synonyms for shackling
  1. binding
  2. hampering
  3. tying
  4. impeding
  5. handcuffing
  6. hindering
  7. confining
  8. obstructing
Verb
  • Mechanism of action Buprenorphine produces its main therapeutic and physiological effects by binding to mu (μ) opioid receptors.
    — Encyclopedia Britannica, Encyclopedia Britannica, 28 Aug. 2026
  • The Ninth Circuit is now binding legal precedent for federal judges in California, Arizona and six other states that have pushed for more regulation.
    — Marshall Cohen, CNN Money, 28 Aug. 2026
Definition of binding
Verb
  • Birds visiting the feeder can get the goo on their wings, hampering their ability to fly and possibly leading to their untimely deaths.
    — Joan Morris, Mercury News, 17 Aug. 2026
  • Rescuers will use an extrication device and a helicopter, Fathur said, adding that there were no reports of people missing and no challenges hampering the search.
    — Reuters, NBC news, 17 Aug. 2026
Definition of hampering
Verb
  • The Mets had a one-run lead coming into the top of the ninth, but right-hander Austin Warren put the first two hitters on base before giving up a game-tying RBI double to pinch-hitter Christian Yelich.
    — Abbey Mastracco, New York Daily News, 25 Aug. 2026
  • With six strikeouts over 4 2/3 scoreless innings, Rasmus — the 12-year-old daughter of former major leaguer Cory Rasmus — is up to 14 for the tournament, tying Mo’ne Davis (Philadelphia, 2014) for the most strikeouts by a girl in series history.
    — Johnny Flores Jr, New York Times, 25 Aug. 2026
Definition of tying
Verb
  • Lynda Albertson, an art-crime analyst, said the works are instantly recognizable, impeding any effort to sell them through reputable channels.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Lynda Albertson, an art crime analyst, said the works are instantly recognizable, impeding any effort to sell them through reputable channels.
    — Colleen Barry, Los Angeles Times, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of impeding
Verb
  • On the other side of the car, another ICE agent was restraining Salgado against the ground, handcuffing him.
    — Stephania Taladrid, New Yorker, 13 Aug. 2026
  • The month prior, Ariana Grande demanded that the administration stop using her music in an Immigration and Customs Enforcement TikTok video depicting federal agents arresting and handcuffing people.
    — Charisma Madarang, Rolling Stone, 29 July 2026
Definition of handcuffing
Verb
  • The fact a majority of them belong to people who traveled from another country and the conditions of the desert itself both complicate efforts to identify remains, therefore hindering missing persons cases, experts say.
    — Emma Tucker, CNN Money, 24 Aug. 2026
  • The charges are hindering proceedings by disorderly conduct, a Class A misdemeanor, and disrupting a meeting or procession, a Class B misdemeanor.
    — Rachel Royster, Fort Worth Star-Telegram, 24 Aug. 2026
Definition of hindering
Verb
  • The judge will then determine whether the dogs should be legally designated as dangerous, which could result in strict requirements for confining the dogs or even in dogs being euthanized.
    — Carolyn Gusoff, CBS News, 20 Aug. 2026
  • For much of our history, few options existed between mass institutionalization in expensive and confining facilities on one end of the spectrum, and fully independent living absent any supports on the other end of the spectrum.
    — Barbara Merrill, Time, 11 Aug. 2026
Definition of confining
Verb
  • In July, Michaels was diagnosed with a complicated obstructing kidney stone, which required immediate surgery and the placement of a ureteral stent.
    — Tracy Brown, Los Angeles Times, 24 Aug. 2026
  • But Seminole’s Special Magistrate Sherry Sutphen chastised Moncrief, a resident of The Springs neighborhood, for likely damaging the river’s ecology behind his home and obstructing its natural flow.
    — Martin E. Comas, The Orlando Sentinel, 22 Aug. 2026
Definition of obstructing

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shackles
shackling
shacks
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Cite this Entry

“Shackling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shackling. Accessed 30 Aug. 2026.

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