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. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To punish or torture by the strappado. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. 1. One who uses strap. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. A person or thing of uncommon size. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Tall; strong; lusty; large; as, a strapping fellow. [ Colloq. ] [ 1913 Webster ]

There are five and thirty strapping officers gone. Farquhar. [ 1913 Webster ]

v. t. To hold or bind with, or as with, a strap; to entangle. [ Obs. ] Chapman. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. [ Cf. F. trappéen. See Trap a kind of rock. ] (Min.) Of or pertaining to trap; being of the nature of trap. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ From Trap to insnare. ] 1. One who traps animals; one who makes a business of trapping animals for their furs. W. Irving. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. (Mining) A boy who opens and shuts a trapdoor in a gallery or level. Raymond. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ From Trap to dress with ornaments. ] 1. That which serves to trap or adorn; ornaments; dress; superficial decorations. [ 1913 Webster ]

Trappings of life, for ornament, not use. Dryden. [ 1913 Webster ]

These but the trappings and the suits of woe. Shak. [ 1913 Webster ]

2. Specifically, ornaments to be put on horses. [ 1913 Webster ]

Caparisons and steeds,
Bases and tinsel trappings. Milton. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. [ F. trappiste. ] (R. C. Ch.) A monk belonging to a branch of the Cistercian Order, which was established by Armand de Rancé in 1660 at the monastery of La Trappe in Normandy. Extreme austerity characterizes their discipline. They were introduced permanently into the United States in 1848, and have monasteries in Iowa and Kentucky. [ 1913 Webster ]

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n. [ From Trap a kind of rock. ] (Min.) Of or performance to trap; resembling trap, or partaking of its form or qualities; trappy. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. pl. [ See Trap to dress. ] Trappings for a horse. [ Obs. ] Chaucer. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. (Min.) Same as Trappous. [ 1913 Webster ]

n. A petty fellow; an inferior agent; an underling. [ 1913 Webster ]

This was going to the fountain head at once, not applying to the understrappers. Goldsmith. [ 1913 Webster ]

a. Becoming an understrapper; subservient. [ R. ] Sterne. [ 1913 Webster ]