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strapping (adj.)

"tall and sturdy, robust," originally applied to women, 1650s, from present participle of strap (v.), apparently in the sense of "to beat with a strap." Compare similar senses of whopping, spanking, bouncing and other present-participle adjectives of violent action expressing something large in size.

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Definitions of strapping from WordNet

strapping (adj.)
muscular and heavily built;
a strapping boy of eighteen
Synonyms: beefy / burly / husky / buirdly
From wordnet.princeton.edu