From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishfettersfet‧ters /ˈfetəz $ -ərz/ noun [plural] literary 1 LIMITthe things that prevent someone from being free SYN constraintsfetters of breaking the fetters of convention2 SCJchains that were put around a prisoner’s feet in past times
Examples from the Corpus
fetters• He soon leaves for a tour of the Continent, with no specific destination, since genius despises fetters.• His legs seemed lashed together like a great horse in fetters.• Ordinary citizens are in political fetters, unable to control their own lives.• Why should we drag about with us the fetters of the discredited thinking of the past?• Then I felt freed, as if I were untying fetters.• The man's clothing had been reduced to rags and he was loaded with fetters.Origin fetters Old English feter; related to → FOOT1 