Thread: Alnwick Fair
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Old 07-17-2011, 01:58 AM
barbossa barbossa is offline
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I like it as dunking:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dunking

Dunking

As torture

In a trial by ordeal, supposed witches were immersed into a vat of water or pond, and taken out after some time, thus and given the opportunity to confess. This process was usually repeated until the victim drowned or gave up and confessed, leading to them being executed in another way, usually hanging or, more rarely, burning. Also, if they had their hands/feet tied, they would be left under water. If they floated they were guilty of witchcraft, if they sank they were innocent but would have usually drowned anyway.

and

http://www.learnersdictionary.com/search/dunk

1dunk Listen to audio/ˈdʌŋk/ verb
dunks; dunked; dunk·ing
1 [+ obj] a : to dip (food) quickly into a liquid (such as coffee or milk) while eating
▪ I like to dunk my doughnut in my coffee.
b chiefly US : to push (someone or something) under water or other liquid for a short amount of time
▪ She dunked him while they were swimming. ▪ He dunked the ladle into the soup.
2 basketball : to jump high in the air and push (the ball) down through the basket [+ obj]
▪ He dunked the ball. [no obj] ▪ He could dunk when he was 16.
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