unshackle en · VERB
Etymology
Etymology tree Proto-Indo-European *né Proto-Indo-European *n̥- Proto-Germanic *un- Proto-West Germanic *un- Old English un- Middle English un- English un- English shackle English unshackle From un- + shackle.
Meanings
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To remove shackles from someone or something.
The sooner the railway can unshackle itself from DfT the better.
2022 September 7, Philip Haigh, “Wireless coverage leaves us hanging on our telephones”, in RAIL, number 965, page 43:The captain ordered that the guards unshackle and release the prisoner, as he had served his sentence.
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To remove restrictions or inhibitions; to allow full freedom and power.
1818, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, On Poesy or Art Painting was, as it were, a new art, and being unshackled by old models it chose its own subjects, and took an eagle’s flight.
Forms
| Spelling | Features | Labels | Source |
|---|---|---|---|
| unshackling | Tense=Pres, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| unshackles | Number=Sing, Person=3, Tense=Pres | lexicographic | |
| unshackled | Tense=Past, VerbForm=Part | lexicographic | |
| unshackled | Tense=Past | lexicographic |
Synonyms
unchain (to remove shackles)
Translations (6)
bg освобождавам (to remove restrictions or inhibitions) · fr émanciper (to remove restrictions or inhibitions) · fr déchainer (to remove shackles) · bg свалям оковите (to remove shackles) · nl bevrijden (to remove shackles) · nl ontboeien (to remove shackles)