Judas cradle
Judas cradle noun: a purported torture device invented in Spain in the 16th century by the Spanish Inquisition by which the suspended victim’s orifice, usually the anus, was slowly impaled on and stretched by the pyramidal tip of the seat.
Noun
Judas cradle (plural Judas cradles)
- A purported torture device invented in Spain in the 16th century by the Spanish Inquisition by which the suspended victim’s orifice, usually the anus, was slowly impaled on and stretched by the pyramidal tip of the seat.
- Synonyms:
- Judas chair
Synonyms of Judas cradle
Forms of Judas cradle
| plural | Judas cradles |
|---|
Origin of Judas cradle
Derives its name from the biblical figure of Judas Iscariot, who betrayed Jesus Christ. It was believed that the torture device was named after Judas as a means of punishing those who were deemed to have betrayed their fellow man.
Questions about Judas cradle
- What does Judas cradle mean?
- Judas cradle means a purported torture device invented in Spain in the 16th century by the Spanish Inquisition by which the suspended victim’s orifice, usually the anus, was slowly impaled on and stretched by the pyramidal tip of the seat.
- What part of speech is Judas cradle?
- Judas cradle is a noun.
- What is the plural of Judas cradle?
- The plural of Judas cradle is Judas cradles.
Words near Judas cradle in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: Judas cradle (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Cite this entry: “Judas cradle.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/judas_cradle. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.