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]

The Collaborative International Dictionary of English v.0.48:

Strappado \Strap*pa"do\, v. t.
   To punish or torture by the strappado. --Milton.
   [1913 Webster]

WordNet (r) 3.0 (2006):

strappado
    n 1: a form of torture in which the hands are tied behind a
         person's back and they are lifted off the ground by a rope
         tied to their wrists, then allowed to drop until their fall
         is checked with a jerk by the rope [syn: strappado,
         strapado]