Bastinado
noun, verb
noun, verb ·Uncommon ·Advanced level
Definitions
Noun
- 1 A blow with a cudgel or stick.
"[H]e is Sir / The moſt vnutterable covvard, that ere nature / Bleſt vvith hard ſhoulders, vvhich vvere only giuen him, / To the ruine of baſtinados."
- 2 a form of torture in which the soles of the feet are beaten with whips or cudgels wordnet
- 3 Beating the bare soles of the feet with a stick as a form of corporal punishment used primarily within prisons in various countries. The receiving person is required to be barefoot.
- 4 a cudgel used to give someone a beating on the soles of the feet wordnet
Verb
- 1 To punish a person by beating the bare soles of the feet, using a stick or truncheon. transitive
- 2 beat somebody on the soles of the feet wordnet
Example
More examples"[H]e is Sir / The moſt vnutterable covvard, that ere nature / Bleſt vvith hard ſhoulders, vvhich vvere only giuen him, / To the ruine of baſtinados."
Etymology
From Spanish bastonada (compare French bastonnade), from baston (“a stick or staff”).
Related phrases
More for "bastinado"
Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.