Procrustes

American  

[proh-kruhs-teez] / proʊˈkrʌs tiz /

noun

Classical Mythology.

1. a robber who stretched or amputated the limbs of travelers to make them conform to the length of his bed. He was killed by Theseus.

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Procrustes British  

/ prəʊˈkrʌstiːz /

noun

1. Greek myth a robber, who put travellers in his bed, stretching or lopping off their limbs so that they fitted it

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Procrustes Cultural  

1. A mythical Greek giant who was a thief and a murderer. He would capture travelers and tie them to an iron bed. If they were longer than the bed, he would hack off their limbs until they fit it. If they were too short, he would stretch them to the right size.

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Discover More

A “procrustean” method is one that relentlessly tries to shape a person, an argument, or an idea to a predetermined pattern.

Etymology

Origin of Procrustes

C16: from Greek Prokroustēs the stretcher, from prokrouein to extend by hammering out

Example Sentences

From sheer whimsicality, the mythical Greek giant Procrustes stretched short men out to fit a long bed.

From Time Magazine Archive

“But who can pronounce Procrustes? Bad for business. Now ‘Crusty,’ anybody can say that.”

From "The Lightning Thief" by Rick Riordan

Of course they are uniform, because he has made them so after the brutal example of Procrustes.

From Sign Language Among North American Indians Compared With That Among Other Peoples And Deaf-Mutes First Annual Report of the Bureau of Ethnology to the Secretary of the Smithsonian Institution, 1879-1880, Government Printing Office, Washington, 1881, pages 263-552 by Mallery, Garrick

By the splendour of Lady Ath�n�'s brow, I will burn that raven's nest of Procrustes!'

From Tales of Troy and Greece by Lang, Andrew

He is140 to force, by the method of Procrustes, the visible Church into co-extension with the invisible.

From Letters to the Clergy On The Lord's Prayer and the Church by Ruskin, John