hookswinging

[ hook-swing-ing ]

noun
  1. a ritualistic torture, practiced among the Mandan Indians, in which a voluntary victim was suspended from hooks attached to the flesh of the back.

Origin of hookswinging

1
First recorded in 1890–95; hook1 + swing1 + -ing1

Words Nearby hookswinging

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024