Keelhauling

2 definitions found

From The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48 [gcide]:

  Keelhaul \Keel"haul`\, v. i. [imp. & p. p. {Keelhauled}; p. pr.
     & vb. n. {Keelhauling}.] [3d keel + haul: cf. LG. & D.
     kielhalen, G. kielholen. ] [Written also {keelhale}.] (Naut.)
     To haul under the keel of a ship, by ropes attached to the
     yardarms on each side. It was formerly practiced as a
     punishment in the Dutch and English navies. --Totten.


     [1913 Webster]

From Moby Thesaurus II by Grady Ward, 1.0 [moby-thes]:

  19 Moby Thesaurus words for "keelhauling":
     confinement, dismemberment, estrapade, galleys, hard labor,
     impalement, imprisonment, incarceration, jailing, martyrdom,
     penal servitude, picketing, railriding, rock pile, strappado,
     tar-and-feathering, the gantlet, torment, torture