hangman

[ hang-muhn for 1; hang-man for 2 ]
See synonyms for hangman on Thesaurus.com
noun,plural hang·men. for 1.
  1. a person who hangs criminals who are condemned to death; public executioner.

  2. a word game in which one player selects a word that the other player must guess by supplying each of its letters: for each incorrect guess a part of a stick figure of a man who has been hanged is drawn.

Origin of hangman

1
Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; see origin at hang, man

Other words from hangman

  • un·der·hang·man, noun, plural un·der·hang·men.

Words Nearby hangman

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hangman in a sentence

  • This day among other stories he told me how despicable a thing it is to be a hangman in Poland, although it be a place of credit.

British Dictionary definitions for hangman

hangman

/ (ˈhæŋmən) /


nounplural -men
  1. an official who carries out a sentence of hanging on condemned criminals

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012