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Procrustesʹ Bed

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Procrustes was a robber of Attica, who placed all who fell into his hands upon an iron bed. If they were longer than the bed, he cut off the redundant part; if shorter, he stretched them till they fitted it. Any attempt to reduce men to one standard, one way of thinking, or one way of acting, is called placing them on Procrustesʹ bed, and the person who makes the attempt is called Procrustes. (See Girdle.)

Tyrant more cruel than Procrustes old,

Who to his iron-bed by torture fits

Their nobler parts, the souls of suffering wits.”


Mallet: Verbal Criticism.

 

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Entry taken from Dictionary of Phrase and Fable, edited by the Rev. E. Cobham Brewer, LL.D. and revised in 1895.

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Pro Tanto
Pro Tempore
Probate of a Will
Probe
Probole
Procès-Verbal
Procession of the Black Breeches
Proclaim on the Housetop
Proclivity
Procris
Procrustes Bed
Procrustean
Prodigal
Prodigy
Profane
Profile
Profound (The)
Prog
Progne or Prokne
Progress
Projection