bed of Procrustes

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

Let the student of singing beware of the numerous impostors who claim to have a “Method,” a sort of bed of Procrustes, which the victim, whether long or short, is made to fit.

From Style in Singing by Haslam, W. E.

Theology was ever the bed of Procrustes, to be adapted to which, the limbs of travellers, if too long were cut off, and if too short were lengthened.

From Good Sense by Holbach, Paul Henri Thiry, baron d'

Ben Jonson complained that it compels all ideas, irrespective of their worth, to fill a space of exactly fourteen lines, and that it therefore operates on the same principle as the bed of Procrustes.

From Halleck's New English Literature by Halleck, Reuben Post

The bed of Procrustes, madam, was a bed to which all who lay upon it had to be conformed.

From Come Rack! Come Rope! by Benson, Robert Hugh

Like the bed of Procrustes, fashions are compelled to suit every one.

From Dress as a Fine Art With Suggestions on Children's Dress by Merrifield, Mary Philadelphia