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.

 

© Webster 1913.


Strap*pa"do, v. t.

To punish or torture by the strappado.

Milton.

 

© Webster 1913.

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