bastinado
- noun
- /ˌbæstəˈnɑːdoʊ/
- Offensive
- Museum exhibits sometimes display a bastinado among other historical devices of discipline.
Examples
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In some cultures, the bastinado was a feared instrument of corporal punishment.
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The guard threatened him with a bastinado if he did not obey.
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The prison guards used a bastinado on the inmates.
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He was punished with a bastinado for his disobedience.
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The guard used a bastinado on the prisoner to inflict punishment for his misbehavior.
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In ancient times, the bastinado was a common method for extracting confessions from accused criminals.
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Despite its brutality, the bastinado was often seen as an effective means of discipline in some cultures.
Synonyms
A metal device used in the past to crush or heat the foot to cause pain
A metal tool used in the past to crush a person's foot and leg during torture
A form of torture that beats the soles of a person's feet to cause pain
Surface Forms
Etymology
Bastinado comes from Spanish and Portuguese words for a 'stick', like bastón and bastão, and it can also mean the stick used to beat the soles of the feet as punishment. So when you see bastinado as a noun, it can mean the instrument used for that punishment.