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pau de arara

Portuguese, noun

pau de arara is spelled P-A-U-D-E-A-R-A-R-A (10 letters). Pau de arara is a Portuguese masculine noun meaning “torture method in which the victim's ankles and wrists are bound to a pole, widely used during the military dictatorship in Brazil” (English Wiktionary, September 2026). On this page, pau-de-arara is a different word: “pre-reform spelling (used until 1990) of pau de arara; still used…”.

What does pau de arara mean in English?

noun

  1. 1

    Brazilmasculinetorture method in which the victim's ankles and wrists are bound to a pole, widely used during the military dictatorship in Brazil

  2. 2

    Brazilmasculinetruck converted to carry passengers in the Northeast Region of Brazil

  3. 3

    masculineParkia platycephala, a tree in the family Fabaceae native to Brazil

  4. 4

    masculineSalvertia convallariaeodora, a tree native to Brazil

noun

as pau-de-arara
  1. 1

    masculinepre-reform spelling (used until 1990) of pau de arara; still used where the agreement hasn’t come into effect and may occur as a sporadic misspelling

Source: English Wiktionary, Portuguese section, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0).

How Portuguese dictionaries define it

noun: 1. o mesmo que pau de arara 2. a árvore fava-de-bolota (Parkia platycephala) 3. a árvore moliana (Salvertia convallariodora), com madeira apropriada à marcenaria

phrase: 1. pau no qual eram penduradas aves como papagaios e araras, para transporte, exposição e venda em feiras públicas, sobretudo do interior 2. forma de transporte coletivo que consiste em colocar paus atravessados na cobertura da carroceria de caminhões, no qual os viajantes se seguravam, usado na Região Nordeste do Brasil sobretudo para migrações à Região Sudeste, ou para transporte na zona rural à falta de ônibus 3. caminhões usados em romarias, com tábuas colocadas na carroceria para servirem de assentos aos romeiros, tombado em 2023 como patrimônio cultural e imaterial do Brasil 4. o migrante nordestino

The definition in the Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), in Portuguese.

Source: Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário), dump of September 1, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0), through kaikki.org.

Forms of pau de arara

  • paus de arara plural
  • pau-de-arara alternative
  • paus-de-arara plural

Source: English Wiktionary and Portuguese Wiktionary (Wikcionário) (dumps of September 2, 2026 and September 1, 2026).

What to look up after pau de arara