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 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
  • Knowing their days of bloodline privilege are numbered, the German and the French aristocrat bond, their class affinities binding them more tightly than the uniforms that separate them.
    — Thomas Doherty, HollywoodReporter, 18 July 2026
  • Marcel Proust, Paul Bourget, and Guy de Maupassant, alongside royalty, diplomats, and politicians, are guests at the salon of their spell-binding mother, born Louise Morpurgo in Trieste.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 17 July 2026
Definition of binding
Verb
  • Yet Cruz sees no time to waste, as non-revenue-generating sports continue to fold at universities big and small, hampering US competitiveness in Olympic sports.
    — Burgess Everett, semafor.com, 20 July 2026
  • Because the injection must then be sent (or pushed) to each specific target, the scale of the attack is limited, hampering mass exploits that hit the Internet at large.
    — Dan Goodin, ArsTechnica, 8 July 2026
Definition of hampering
Verb
  • One of the two men accused of zip-tying and holding hostage two national forest employees last week had a violent criminal charge dismissed because of overcrowding in the state’s mental health facilities, a Washington prosecutor said.
    — Mirna Alsharif, NBC news, 21 July 2026
  • Just a fraction of an inch can separate a player from hitting a flyball to left field and, say, tying a franchise record for career home runs.
    — Pete Grathoff, Kansas City Star, 21 July 2026
Definition of tying
Verb
  • The findings come as countries are determining how to put up guardrails around AI without impeding their ability to compete in the rapidly developing field.
    — Didi Tang, Fortune, 16 July 2026
  • These vehicles were blocking and impeding fire operations, and several were non-operational and required tow truck assistance for removal.
    — Jeff Nguyen, CBS News, 1 July 2026
Definition of impeding
Verb
  • Forest Service officials, their patience having long evaporated, arrived in force, handcuffing and hauling the occupiers out by the yokes of their flannels, then bulldozing the camp.
    — Literary Hub, Literary Hub, 10 July 2026
  • And yet the situation has the potential of becoming a bigger distraction and handcuffing Yzerman from building the roster further.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 2 July 2026
Definition of handcuffing
Verb
  • Still, they weren’t built for 2026, and playing in a minor-league park might be hindering their pitching development.
    — Ken Rosenthal, New York Times, 21 July 2026
  • Meanwhile, most workers find themselves on the hook to fund more of their own retirement than their parents did and to pay more for their healthcare and insurance coverage, hindering their efforts to save for retirement.
    — Kirk McClure, Fortune, 14 July 2026
Definition of hindering
Verb
  • Use a summer-friendly baby carrier The combination of your body heat and the carrier’s confining space can make an infant hot and bothered within a matter of minutes.
    — Nancy Mattia, Parents, 8 July 2026
  • Plants are also unbothered by confining pavement and other urban challenges.
    — Kim Toscano, Southern Living, 24 June 2026
Definition of confining
Verb
  • Moreover, the State Department did not consider Israel’s months-long pattern of obstructing aid; the department only assessed the volume of aid flowing when the report was being finalized.
    — David D. Kirkpatrick, New Yorker, 20 July 2026
  • The passenger, Alan Pena Sabogn, 21, also of Bogotá, was later apprehended and arrested on suspicion of failing to obey a lawful order, obstructing a peace officer and providing false identification, authorities said.
    — Landon Mion, FOXNews.com, 20 July 2026
Definition of obstructing

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Cite this Entry

“Shackling.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/shackling. Accessed 26 Jul. 2026.

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Nglish: Translation of shackling for Spanish Speakers

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