strappadoes

Variant of strappado

strappado definition

strap·pado (strə pā′dō, -pä′-)

noun pl. strappadoes -·does

  1. a former kind of torture in which the victim was lifted in the air by a rope fastened to the wrists, then suddenly dropped part way to the ground
  2. the instrument used in this torture

Etymology: It strappata < strappare, to pull < Gmc, as in Ger dial. (Swiss) strapfen, to pull tight (akin to Ger strafen, to punish) < IE *strep- < base *(s)ter-, stiff > stare

Webster's New World College Dictionary Copyright © 2009 by Wiley Publishing, Inc., Cleveland, Ohio.
Used by arrangement with John Wiley & Sons, Inc.

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