hookswinging

American  

[hook-swing-ing] / ˈhʊkˌswɪŋ ɪŋ /

noun

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

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Etymology

Origin of hookswinging

First recorded in 1890–95; hook ¹ + swing ¹ + -ing ¹