お縄なわ

noun

policeman's rope; arresting rope

Dated term for the rope used by Edo-period police to bind criminals. Now mostly encountered in historical contexts or period dramas.

• 時じ代だい劇げきでは、罪ざい人にんにお縄なわをかける場ば面めんがよく出でてくる。

  In period dramas, scenes where a criminal is bound with a rope often appear.

noun

arrest; apprehension

Dated metonymic use: the rope stands for the act of arresting. Common in the phrase お縄になる (to be arrested).

• 悪あく党とうはついにお縄なわになった。