Also known as the poire d'angoisse or "pear of anguish". The pear was a device that expanded after being inserted orally, anally, or vaginally. It was used to rupture the sensitive membranes and tissues of these areas. With much of the damage being inside the body cavity, "confessions" thus extracted could seem to be freely given.

The different uses were usually determined by the crime. A person commiting homosexual acts would be tortured anally. A woman refusing her wifely duties or is a convicted whore would be subjected vaginally. Or a woman who talked out of tone at church or at her husband would get The Pear orally.