noun
- a form of punishment involving beating the soles of the feet with a stick or rod
Usage: historical
verb
- to beat someone on the soles of the feet as punishment
Usage: historical
Examples
- The bastinado was a common form of corporal punishment in some historical societies.
- Prisoners were subjected to the bastinado for minor infractions.
- The practice of bastinado has been abolished in most modern legal systems.
- Historical records describe how guards would bastinado unruly captives.
- The bastinado left victims unable to walk for days.
- Ancient texts mention the bastinado as a method of extracting confessions.