écarteler
Meanings
Verb
1. to draw and quarter (to execute by pulling the victim's limbs in different directions; to pull a body apart by the four limbs) (transitive)
2. to divide a shield into four parts (heraldry)
Examples6
Pourquoi l'ont-ils écartelé ?
Why did they quarter him?
Il ne mérite pas d'être écartelé.
He doesn't deserve to be quartered.
Le condamné est mort écartelé.
The condemned died by quartering.
Le condamné sera écartelé.
The condemned will be quartered.
Quatre chevaux écartelèrent le condamné.
Four horses quartered the condemned man.
À l'époque, on écartelait les gens en utilisant quatre chevaux.
In those days, people were quartered through the use of four horses.