bastinado

Estimated CEFR level: C2 — Proficiency

Estimated from word frequency; not an official CEFR classification.

Definition

noun a cudgel used to give someone a beating on the soles of the feet
noun a form of torture in which the soles of the feet are beaten with whips or cudgels
verb beat somebody on the soles of the feet

From Spanish bastonada (compare French bastonnade), from baston (“a stick or staff”).

Besides this the Kaed threatened the bastinado. — Travels in the Great Desert of Sahara, in the Years of 1845 and 1846, James Richardson
BASTINADO, n. The act of walking on wood without exertion. — The Devil's Dictionary, Ambrose Bierce
[135] Perhaps to this period must be assigned the bastinado incident. — The Life of Sir Richard Burton, Thomas Wright

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