leg irons
Prisoner's ankle bonds
Leg irons are metal restraints locked around a prisoner's ankles, connected by a chain that restricts movement.
Historically used on enslaved people and convicts, they now appear mainly in maximum-security transport: The defendant shuffled into court in leg irons.
Also called shackles or fetters.
Jailed offender after trial
- inmateConfined facility resident
- prisonerConfined criminal detainee
- chain gangShackled convict work crew
- penitentiaryFacility for convicted criminals
dungeon · warden · guard · cell · incarceration · hard labor · transport ship · correctional
Uneven, impaired gait
- ankle cuffsRestraints encircling lower legs
- iron ringsCircular bands of ferrous metal
- boltsThreaded metal fasteners
- rivetsPermanent metal fasteners
padlocks · locks · clamps · bindings · tethers · yoke · trammels · ball and chain
Involuntary subjugation to another
- chattelMovable personal property
- enslavedMade someone's property
- overseerOne who monitors work
- plantationLarge-scale farming operation
auction block · trafficking · servitude · abolition · emancipation · freedom · liberation · Middle Passage
One fleeing authorities
- runawayOne who flees
- fleeDepart swiftly from threat
- abscondFlee to avoid capture
- breakoutSudden escape from restraint
bolt · flight · elude · evade · liberate · unshackle · break free · loose
Of occupied territories
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
- pilloryPublic punishment restraint
- stocksOwnership stakes or inventory
gibbet · hulks · transportation · impressment · debtors prison · Victorian · antebellum · ancient
convict
Jailed offender after trial
- inmateConfined facility resident
- prisonerConfined criminal detainee
- chain gangShackled convict work crew
penitentiary · dungeon · warden · guard · cell · incarceration · hard labor · transport ship · correctional · penal colony
hobbles
Uneven, impaired gait
- ankle cuffsRestraints encircling lower legs
- iron ringsCircular bands of ferrous metal
- boltsThreaded metal fasteners
rivets · padlocks · locks · clamps · bindings · tethers · yoke · trammels · ball and chain · weights
bondage
Involuntary subjugation to another
plantation · auction block · trafficking · servitude · abolition · emancipation · freedom · liberation · Middle Passage · coffle
fugitive
One fleeing authorities
breakout · bolt · flight · elude · evade · liberate · unshackle · break free · loose · release
colonial
Of occupied territories
- medievalOf the Middle Ages
- tortureDeliberate infliction of suffering
- pilloryPublic punishment restraint
stocks · gibbet · hulks · transportation · impressment · debtors prison · Victorian · antebellum · ancient · Roman
- dungeondungeon, oubliette, cell bars, torture chamber, prison cell
- Legal/Police Itemsgavel, law book, legal pad, scales of justice, handcuffs
- penal historyprison, prisons, gaols, jails, penitentiaries
- prison equipmenthandcuffs, prison bars, cell bars, bars, prison cell
- prisoner transportprison bus, prison transfer, secure transport, federal marshal, handcuffs
- restraintshandcuffs, ropes, cuffs, restraints, restraint
leg ironsfreedom
Absence of constraint
liberty · unshackled · emancipation · free movement · release