bilboes
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English[edit]
Etymology[edit]
Unknown. Purported to have been invented in Bilbao, Spain, yet the device's name predates the Spanish Armada that supposedly imported it.
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
bilboes pl (plural only)
- An iron bar fitting around the ankles of prisoners, and having sliding shackles.
- 2001, Glen David Gold, Carter Beats The Devil:
- The bilboes looked like handcuffs that went around the ankles. The prisoner lay flat on his back, in the dirt, his feet suspended in the air by a length of iron bar to which the bilboes were fastened.