impalement

Meanings

Plural: impalements

Noun

• the act of piercing with a sharpened stake as a form of punishment or torture
• The act of torturing or executing someone by impaling them on a sharp stake.
• The joining of two coats of arms on one shield.
• A space fenced in, such as by palings, possibly in the form of an enclosure or cup.
• In the sense of an enclosure, the calyx of a flower. (In still older works, also spelt empalement.)