Green’s Dictionary of Slang

(orig. UK police/Und.) handcuffs.

1866		J. Greenwood Little Ragamuffin 275: ‘Got the cuffs on this fellow?’ asked Joe.
1900		Flynt & Walton Powers That Prey 41: If you shouldn’t happen to discover a way of helpin’ me, that telegram reads cuffs in Clinton Place, jail in Akron, Stir in Columbus.
1915		D. Lowrie My Life out of Prison 300: Take off those cuffs.
1928		Hecht & MacArthur Front Page Act III: Put the cuffs on those two!
1936		G. Greene Gun for Sale (1973) 143: That’d be fine, wouldn’t it? Hold out my hands for the cuffs.
1943		I. Wolfert Tucker’s People (1944) 205: Juice put out his right hand and Egan fastened one cuff.
1955		‘Blackie’ Audett Rap Sheet 43: We didn’t even have to surrender. The cuffs was on us before we could even say we wanted to.
1966		H.S. Thompson Hell’s Angels (1967) 26: A cop said: ‘You’re one,’ and they slapped the cuffs on me.
1970		T. Parker Frying-Pan 93: Take him on your own without cuffs.
1987		T. Wolfe Bonfire of the Vanities 460: You can take the cuffs off.
1997		Simon & Burns Corner (1998) 62: They could jail if they had to, but tried their damnedest to stay out of the cuffs.
2000		C. Cook Robbers (2001) 214: They’d jump from the woodwork, a whole SWAT team. Throw on the cuffs, yell gotcha!
2006		C.W. Ford Deuce’s Wild 270: Take the cuffs off and I’ll tell you.
2012		J. Fagan Panopticon 14: I hold my hands out and the policewoman unlocks my cuffs.