noun
- a chain or shackle placed around a prisoner’s ankles
- something that restricts or restrains
Usage: figurative
verb
- to restrain with chains or shackles
- to restrict or limit someone’s freedom or actions
Usage: figurative
Examples
- The prisoner’s ankles were bound with iron fetters.
- She felt the fetters of tradition holding her back.
- The guards fettered the dangerous criminal before transport.
- Poverty can fetter a person’s opportunities for advancement.
- He broke free from the fetters of his past mistakes.
- The new regulations will fetter the company’s growth.
- Heavy chains and fetters secured the castle’s dungeon prisoners.