A slow and painful murder by the Mafia as a warning to others.
Origin
Ultimately from Middle Low German bōkwête ("beech-wheat") (so called because of its triangular seeds, which resemble the much larger seeds of the beech nut from the beech tree, and the fact that it is used like wheat), probably via Middle Dutch boecweit, boecweite. Compare German Buchweizen.
Despite the name, buckwheat is not related to wheat, as it is not a grass.
Modern English dictionary
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