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- Dictionarybilboes/ˈbɪlbəʊz/
plural
- 1. an iron bar with sliding shackles, formerly used for confining a prisoner's ankles.
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Bilboes (plurale tantum) are iron restraints normally placed on a person's ankles. They have commonly been used as leg shackles to restrain prisoners for different purposes until the modern ages. Bilboes were also used on slave ships, such as the Henrietta Marie.
bilboes. Quick Reference. Long bars or bolts, with a padlock on the end, on which iron shackles could slide. They were used on board ship to confine the legs of prisoners in a similar manner to putting someone in the stocks.
Bilboes definition: a long iron bar with two sliding shackles, formerly used to confine the ankles of a prisoner. See examples of BILBOES used in a sentence.
The meaning of BILBO is a long bar of iron with sliding shackles used to confine the feet of prisoners especially on shipboard.
(ˈbɪlbəʊz ) plural noun. a long iron bar with two sliding shackles, formerly used to confine the ankles of a prisoner. Collins English Dictionary. Copyright © HarperCollins Publishers. Word origin. C16: perhaps changed from Bilbao. Examples of 'bilboes' in a sentence. bilboes.
bilboes pl (plural only) An iron bar fitting around the ankles of prisoners, and having sliding shackles.
Definition: Bilboes (bil-bohz) is a historical device used for punishment at sea. It consists of a board with holes that secure an offender's hands and feet. It is similar to stocks used on land. It is also an iron bar with sliding shackles for confining the ankles of prisoners, especially on ships.
An early English definition says simply, if not vaguely, that bilboes are “A sort of punishment at sea, when an Offender is laid in Irons, or set in a kind of Stocks” (Philips, 1706: BI-BI). An early-nineteenth century Spanish dictionary gives a fuller and more telling definition for grillos (the Spanish word for bilboes).
Bilboes definition: (plural only) An iron bar fitting around the ankles of prisoners, and having sliding <a>shackles</a>.
Define bilboes. bilboes synonyms, bilboes pronunciation, bilboes translation, English dictionary definition of bilboes. n. pl. bil·boes An iron bar to which sliding fetters are attached, formerly used to shackle the feet of prisoners.
