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Webster 1913 Edition
Procrustes
Pro-crus′tes
,Noun.
[L., fr. Gr. [GREEK], fr. [GREEK] to beat out, to stretch; [GREEK] forward + [GREEK] to strike.]
(Gr. Antiq.)
A celebrated legendary highwayman of Attica, who tied his victims upon an iron bed, and, as the case required, either stretched or cut of their legs to adapt them to its length; – whence the metaphorical phrase,
the bed of Procrustes
.