Part 847

A lively cobbler that . . . had scarce passed a day without giving her [his wife] the discipline of the strap.

Addison.

2. Something made of such a strip, or of a part of one, or a combination of two or more for a particular use; as, a boot strap, shawl strap, stirrup strap.

3. A piece of leather, or strip of wood covered with a suitable material, for sharpening a razor; a strop.

4. A narrow strip of anything, as of iron or brass. Specifically: --

(a) (Carp. & Mach.) A band, plate, or loop of metal for clasping and holding timbers or parts of a machine.

(b) (Naut.) A piece of rope or metal passing around a block and used for fastening it to anything.

5. (Bot.) (a) The flat part of the corolla in ligulate florets, as those of the white circle in the daisy. (b) The leaf, exclusive of its sheath, in some grasses.

6. A shoulder strap. See under Shoulder.

Strap bolt, a bolt of which one end is a flat bar of considerable length. -- Strap head (Mach.), a journal box, or pair of brasses, secured to the end of a connecting rod by a strap. See Illust. of Gib and key, under Gib. -- Strap hinge, a hinge with long flaps by which it is fastened, as to a door or wall. -- Strap rail (Railroads), a flat rail formerly used.

Strap, v. t. [imp. & p. p. Strapped (?); p. pr. & vb. n. Strapping.] 1. To beat or chastise with a strap.

2. To fasten or bind with a strap. Cowper.

3. To sharpen by rubbing on a strap, or strop; as, to strap a razor.

Strap*pa"do (?), n.; pl. Strappadoes (#). [It. strappata a pull, the strappado, from strappare to pull, from Prov. G. strapfen: cf. G. straff tense, stretched.] A military punishment formerly practiced, which consisted in drawing an offender to the top of a beam and letting him fall to the length of the rope, by which means a limb was often dislocated. Shak.

Strap*pa"do, v. t. To punish or torture by the strappado. Milton.

Strap"per (?), n. 1. One who uses strap.

2. A person or thing of uncommon size. [Colloq.]

Strap"ping (?), a. Tall; strong; lusty; large; as, a strapping fellow. [Colloq.]

There are five and thirty strapping officers gone.

Farquhar.

Strap"ple (?), v. t. To hold or bind with, or as with, a strap; to entangle. [Obs.] Chapman.

Strap"-shaped` (?), a. Shaped like a strap; ligulate; as, a strap-shaped corolla.

Strap"work` (?), n. (Arch.) A kind of ornament consisting of a narrow fillet or band folded, crossed, and interlaced.

Strass (?), n. [So called from its inventor, a German jeweler: cf. F. stras.] (Chem.) A brilliant glass, used in the manufacture of artificial paste gems, which consists essentially of a complex borosilicate of lead and potassium. Cf. Glass.

Stra"ta (?), n., pl. of Stratum.

Strat"a*gem (?), n. [F. stratagème (cf. Sp. estratagema, It. stratagemma), L. strategema, Gr. &?;, fr. &?; to be leader of an army, fr. &?; a general; &?; an army (probably as being spread out; cf. Stratum) + &?; to lead. See Agent.] An artifice or trick in war for deceiving the enemy; hence, in general, artifice; deceptive device; secret plot; evil machination.

Fit for treasons, stratagems, and spoils.

Shak.