thumbscrew
71thumbkin — /thum kin/, n. thumbscrew (def. 2). Also, thumbikin /thum i kin/, thumbikins. [1675 85; THUMB + KIN] * * * …
72torment — tormentedly, adv. tormentingly, adv. tormentingness, n. v. /tawr ment , tawr ment/; n. /tawr ment/, v.t. 1. to afflict with great bodily or mental suffering; pain: to be tormented with violent headaches. 2. to worry or annoy excessively: to… …
73torture — torturable, adj. torturedly, adv. torturer, n. torturesome, adj. torturingly, adv. /tawr cheuhr/, n., v., tortured, torturing. n. 1. the act of inflicting excruciating pain, as punishment or revenge, as a means of getting a confession or… …
74cruel and unusual punishment — cru·el and un·usu·al punishment n: punishment that is offensive to the contemporary morality or jurisprudence (as by being degrading, inflicting unnecessary and intentional pain, or being disproportionate to the offense) nor cruel and unusual… …
75pernicious — adjective a) Causing much harm in a subtle way. Puritanism no longer employs the thumbscrew and lash; but it still has a most pernicious hold on the minds and feelings of the American people. b) Causing death or injury; deadly. See Also:… …
76pilliwinks — noun A torture device for fingers and toes. Syn: thumbscrew …
77Mark Scott Ricketts — This article is about the comic book writer. For other persons named Mark Ricketts, see Mark Ricketts. Mark Scott Ricketts Born Mark RickettsStuttgart, Arkansas Nationality American …
78List of methods of torture — A list of torture methods and devices includes: Contents 1 Psychological torture methods 2 Physical torture methods 3 Instruments of torture 4 Medieval …
79Witch trials in the Early Modern period — Punishments for witchcraft in 16th century Germany. Woodcut from Tengler s Laienspiegel, Mainz, 1508. The Witch trials in the Early Modern period were a period of witch hunts between the fifteenth and eighteenth centuries,[1] when across Early… …
80Dimberline — This very interesting and unusual surname is an Anglicized form of the medieval German Diumeln and is occupational for somebody who was the official torturer in a town. The origin is from dume meaning thumb and literally means one who applied the …
