Handcuffs

How to spell handcuffs

9 letters · 2 syllables

How to pronounce handcuffs

Say the part in capitals loudest.

What does handcuffs mean?

1. nounA pair of linked metal rings that lock around a person's wrists to restrain them.

Handcuffs in a sentence

• The officer fastened the handcuffs before leading the suspect to the car.

• A spare set of handcuffs hung from the sergeant's belt.

Where does handcuffs come from?

Language of origin: Germanic

This is a compound of two native English elements: 'hand', from the Old English 'hand' meaning the part of the arm below the wrist, and 'cuff', a band or fastening that closes round the wrist. The word 'cuff' appeared in Middle English (as 'cuffe') and originally referred to a glove or mitten, then later to the turned-back band at the end of a sleeve; its earlier history is uncertain, which is why dictionaries often mark its origin as unclear. By the seventeenth century 'handcuffs' was being used for the linked metal rings locked around a prisoner's wrists, replacing older terms such as 'manacle'. The spelling stays pleasingly literal: it is simply the cuff that closes round the hand, so picturing a cuff snapping shut over the wrist keeps the two roots in mind. There is no silent letter trickery here, only the everyday risk of dropping the 'd' that sits quietly between 'han' and 'cuffs'.

How the word is built

• hand (from Old English hand)
• cuff (a band fastened round the wrist)
• -s (plural)