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Webster's Dictionary (1865)

2 entries under this word

Fetter

Fēt'ter, n.

noun

n. [A-S. fetor, feotur, feeter, Icel. fjotur, O. Sax. fetar, O. D. veter, M. H. Ger. vezzer, O. H. Ger. fezerâ, N. H. Ger. fessel, allied to Gr. πέδη, and Lat. pedica. Chiefly used in the plural, fetters.] 1. A chain for the feet; a chain by which an animal is confined by the foot, either made fast or disabled from free and rapid motion; a bond; a shackle. The Philistines . . . bound him with fetters of brass. Judg. xvi. 21. 2. Any thing that confines or restrains from motion; a restraint. Passions too fierce to be in fetters bound. Dryden.

Fĕt'ter, v. t.

verbtransitive

[imp. & p. p. FETTERED; p. pr. & vb. n. FETTERING.]

Sense 1. To put fetters upon; to shackle or confine with a chain the feet of; to bind; to enchain.

My heels are fettered, but my fist is free. Milton.

Sense 2. To restrain from motion; to impose restraints on; to confine.

Fetter strong madness in a silken thread. Shak.