Metal restraint devices with two connected loops that lock around a person's wrists, used by police to keep someone from moving.
From 'hand' (Old English 'hand') and 'cuff' (short for 'cuffing'), which originally meant to strike or hit. The word 'cuff' for the wrist restraint evolved from the idea of binding around the cuff of a sleeve. The compound 'handcuffs' became standard in English by the 1600s.
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