Strap·pa·do n.; pl. Strappadoes 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.
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)]