The Collaborative International Dictionary
Strappadoes
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.
Wiktionary
strappadoes
n. (plural of strappado English)
WordNet
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)]
strappadoes
See strappado