BASTINADO

bastinado, falanga

(noun) a form of torture in which the soles of the feet are beaten with whips or cudgels

bastinado

(noun) a cudgel used to give someone a beating on the soles of the feet

bastinado

(verb) beat somebody on the soles of the feet

Source: WordNet® 3.1


Etymology

Noun

bastinado (plural bastinadoes)

A blow with a stick or cudgel.

Beating the bare soles of the feet with a stick: a form of corporal punishment used primarily within prisons in various countries. The receiving person is required to be barefoot.

Verb

bastinado (third-person singular simple present bastinadoes, present participle bastinadoing, simple past and past participle bastinadoed)

(transitive) To punish a person by beating the bare soles of the feet, using a stick or truncheon.

Source: Wiktionary


Bas`ti*na"do, n.; pl. Bastinadoes. Etym: [Sp. bastonada (cf. F. bastonnade), fr. baston (cf. F. b) a stick or staff. See Baston.]

1. A blow with a stick or cudgel.

2. A sound beating with a stick or cudgel. Specifically: A form of punishment among the Turks, Chinese, and others, consisting in beating an offender on the soles of his feet.

Bas`ti*na"do, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Bastinadoes (; p. pr. & vb. n. Bastinadoing.]

Definition: To beat with a stick or cudgel, especially on the soles of the feet.

Source: Webster’s Unabridged Dictionary 1913 Edition



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Word of the Day

28 February 2025

PRESCRIPTIVE

(adjective) pertaining to giving directives or rules; “prescriptive grammar is concerned with norms of or rules for correct usage”


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Coffee Trivia

The word “coffee” entered the English language in 1582 via the Dutch “koffie,” borrowed from the Ottoman Turkish “kahve,” borrowed in turn from the Arabic “qahwah.” The Arabic word qahwah was traditionally held to refer to a type of wine.

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