iron maiden

iron maiden

noun
a medieval instrument of torture fashioned as a box in the shape of a woman, large enough to hold a human being, and studded with sharp spikes on the inside.
Also called iron maiden of Nuremberg.


Origin:
1890–95; translation of German eiserne Jungfrau
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Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2012.
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Iron maiden is always a great word to know.
So is interrobang. Does it mean:
a fool or simpleton; ninny.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
Collins
World English Dictionary
iron maiden
 
n
a medieval instrument of torture, consisting of a hinged case (often shaped in the form of a woman) lined with iron spikes, which was forcibly closed on the victim

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
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