| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language: Fourth Edition. 2000. |
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| Procrustean |
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| SYLLABICATION: | Pro·crus·te·an |
| PRONUNCIATION: |  pr -kr s t - n |
| VARIANT FORMS: | also pro·crus·te·an |
| ADJECTIVE: | Producing or designed to produce strict conformity by ruthless or arbitrary means. | | ETYMOLOGY: | After Procrustes, a mythical Greek giant who stretched or shortened captives to make them fit his beds, from Latin Procrusts, from Greek Prokrousts, from prokrouein, hammer out, to stretch out : pro-, forth; see pro–2 + krouein, to beat.
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| The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition. Copyright © 2000 by Houghton Mifflin Company. Published by the Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved. |
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