Strappado

3 definitions found

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

  Strappado \Strap*pa"do\, n.; pl. {Strappadoes}. [It. strappata a
     pull, the strappado, from strappare to pull, from Prov. G.
     strapfen: cf. G. straff tense, stretched.]
     A military punishment formerly practiced, which consisted in
     drawing an offender to the top of a beam and letting him fall
     to the length of the rope, by which means a limb was often


     dislocated. --Shak.
     [1913 Webster]

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

  Strappado \Strap*pa"do\, v. t.
     To punish or torture by the strappado. --Milton.
     [1913 Webster]

From WordNet (r) 2.0 [wn]:

  strappado
       n : torture in which a person's hands and tied behind their back
           and they are lifted off the ground by a rope tied to
           their wrists and that allowed to drop until their fall is
           checked by the rope
       [also: {strappadoes} (pl)]