bowstring

noun

1. The string of an archer's bow.

   “For an instant he glanced along the polished shaft, drawing the bowstring far back, that the arrow might pierce through the heart for which it was aimed.”

2. (historical)The string of an archer's bow, as used by the Turks for strangling offenders.

verb

1. (transitive)To strangle with a bowstring.

   “When the day broke […] it was high time for her to get up and be bowstrung—a thing very little more pleasant than hanging, only a trifle more genteel.”

   “1909, O. Henry (William Sydney Porter), A Municipal Report I have seen (on one of my imaginary tours) the Sultan of Turkey bowstring with his own hands one of his wives who had uncovered her face in public.”