trapeze

[ tra-peez or, esp. British, truh- ]

/ træˈpiz or, esp. British, trə- /

an apparatus, used in gymnastics and acrobatics, consisting of a short horizontal bar attached to the ends of two suspended ropes.

(on a small sailboat) a device by which a crew member can be suspended almost completely outboard while hiking.

Origin of trapeze

1860–65; < French, special use of trapèze trapezium

Freed from her guitar, but wearing counterintuitive pumps, she leaned back like a trapeze artist.

Is Bigger Better for St. Vincent? |David Yaffe |December 4, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Trapeze artists and those shot out of cannonballs would fall to their death.

We’re All Carnies Now: Why We Can’t Quit the Circus |Anthony Paletta |November 27, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
For a hot minute, we had Mayor Bloomberg in a trapeze, but we lost him.

Oscars Host Neil Patrick Harris on His Best and Worst Emcee Moments (VIDEO) |Neil Patrick Harris |October 15, 2014 |DAILY BEAST
Trapeze tragedy The St. Louis Trapeze Incident occurred in 1872.

Thrills and Too Many Spills: The Dangers of the Circus |Marina Watts |May 5, 2014 |DAILY BEAST

Whether he is insinuating himself into a juggling routine or flubbing a trapeze act, he clearly has those skills in his toolkit.

Giovanni Zoppé’s Real-Life Family Circus |Malcolm Jones |October 21, 2012 |DAILY BEAST
If Ruth had had any doubts about the trapeze artist and her father, she was at once disarmed when Barnabetta came down to dinner.

The Corner House Girls' Odd Find |Grace Brooks Hill
But he was bound to relieve his feelings somehow, and the trapeze was just what he wanted.

Tom, Dick and Harry |Talbot Baines Reed
The wish to conquer increasing difficulties has raised the equilibrists from the slack wire to the trapeze.

Acrobats and Mountebanks |Hugues Le Roux
This time he was to give a performance on the trapeze, and he ran up the ladder as easily as a monkey, cracking out many jokes.

A Fortunate Term |Angela Brazil
Trapeze performers usually ascend to their rigging on a net webbing, hand over hand sailor fashion.

Watch Yourself Go By |Al. G. Field

trapeze

/ (trəˈpiːz) /

a free-swinging bar attached to two ropes, used by circus acrobats, etc

a sling like a bosun's chair at one end of a line attached to the masthead of a light racing sailing boat, used in sitting out

C19: from French trapèze, from New Latin; see trapezium