Merriam-Webster Collegiate Dictionary - strap

 I. noun  Etymology: alteration of strop, from Middle English, band or loop of leather or rope, from Old English, thong for securing an oar, from Latin struppus band, ~, from Greek strophos twisted band, from strephein to twist  Date: 1602  1.  a. a narrow usually flat strip or thong of a flexible material and especially leather used for securing, holding together, or wrapping  b. something made of a ~ forming a loop a boot ~  c. a strip of leather used for flogging  d. strop  2. a band, plate, or loop of metal for binding objects together or for clamping an object in position  3. a shoe fastened with a usually buckled ~  4. Irish trollop  • ~py adjective  II. transitive verb  (~ped; ~ping)  Date: 1711  1.  a.  (1) to secure with or attach by means of a ~  (2) to support (as a sprained joint) with overlapping strips of adhesive plaster  b. bind, constrict  2. to beat or punish with a ~  3. strop  4. to cause to suffer from an extreme scarcity is often ~ped for cash