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Thesaurus: strappado

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.

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  1. n. 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.
  2. v. t. To punish or torture by the strappado.
  3. n. a form of torture in which the hands are tied behind a person's back and they are lifted off the ground by a rope tied to their wrists, then allowed to drop until their fall is checked with a jerk by the rope
  4. 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. To punish or torture by the strappado. Milton.
  5. A military punishment formerly practiced, which consisted indrawing an offender to the top of a beam and letting him fall to thelength of the rope, by which means a limb was often dislocated. Shak.
  6. n. a form of torture in which the hands are tied behind a person's back and they are lifted off the ground by a rope tied to their wrists, then allowed to drop until their fall is checked with a jerk by the rope