\Pro*crus"tes\, n. [L., fr. Gr. ?, fr. ? to beat out,
to stretch; ? forward + ? to strike.] (Gr. Antiq.)
A celebrated legendary highwayman of Attica, who tied his
victims upon an iron bed, and, as the case required, either
stretched or cut of their legs to adapt them to its length;
-- whence the metaphorical phrase,

{the bed of Procrustes}.