English Explanatory Dictionary

gallows

English dictionary entry

Meanings

noun
  1. A wooden framework on which persons are executed by hanging.
  2. A wretch who deserves to be hanged.
  3. The rest for the tympan when raised.
  4. Suspenders; braces.
  5. Any contrivance with posts and crossbeam for suspending objects.
  6. The main frame of a beam engine.
  7. plural of gallow glyph; a specialized, ornate character that appears frequently in the Voynich Manuscript.
adv
  1. Utterly; very.
verb
  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of gallow
name
  1. plural of Gallow

Pronunciation

/ˈɡæləʊz/ /ˈɡæloʊz/ /ˈɡæləs/ en-us-gallows.ogg

Word forms

gallows gallowses

Etymology

From Middle English galwes, galewes, plural of galwe, galowe, from Old English galga, gealga, from Proto-West Germanic *galgō, from Proto-Germanic *galgô, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“long switch, rod, shaft, pole, perch”). The plural construction probably refers to the vertical and horizontal beams. Compare West Frisian galge, Dutch galg, German Galgen, Danish galge, Icelandic gálgi. For the pronunciation /ˈɡæləs/, compare bellows, bodice.

Synonyms

crook gallows nubbing cheat Tyburn tree gibbet gallows tree gallow tree hanging tree

Related words

gallows tree hanging tree die by hanging gallows bird hangworthy kill by hanging

Derived words

gallous gallow gallow character gallow glyph gallows bird gallows-bird gallows-bitts gallows frame gallows god gallows humor gallows humour gallowsmaker gallowsness gallowsward Middlesex gallows scapegallows Tyburn gallows
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