gallows

CEFRC2

/ˈɡæləʊz/

noun

Türkçe translations

Translating…

In plain English

  1. 01

    noun

    A structure used for hanging people as punishment.

  2. 02

    noun

    Extra detail

    A wretch who deserves to be hanged.

Examples

  • The criminal was sent to the gallows.

  • The gallows were already standing on the square.

At a glance

Sits at C2 on the CEFR scale

Senses
5
Parts of speech
1
Citations
4
Synonyms
5

Also pronounced

  • /ˈɡæləs/
  • /ˈɡæloʊz/

Deep Dive

noun

Extra meanings

  1. The rest for the tympan when raised.

  2. A wooden framework on which persons are executed by hanging.

  3. Any contrivance with posts and crossbeam for suspending objects.

More examples

In context

  • Lit by the moonlight through the window, he can see a FIGURE in the hospital bed alone in the room, and under a transparent oxygen tent. […] Tubes hang from a steel gallows beside the bed, and run to his nose and mouth.

  • Near-synonym: gibbet

  • Ay, and a shrewd unhappy gallows too. / You'll ne'er be friends with him: a' kill'd your sister.

Synonyms

Quick test

Two questions on this entry. Nothing is scored.

Question 1 · Quick check

The criminal was led to the blank to be executed.

Practise this properly in the app, where the word comes back before you forget it.

Nearby

Origin

noun

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.