The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Strappado \Strap*pa"do\, 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]