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.