gallows

American  

[gal-ohz, -uhz] / ˈgæl oʊz, -əz /

noun

gallowses, plural gallows plural

1. a wooden frame, consisting of a crossbeam on two uprights, on which condemned persons are executed by hanging.

2. a similar structure from which something is suspended.

3. execution by hanging.

   a crime deserving of the gallows.

4. Also called gallows bitts.  Nautical. a support on the deck of a vessel, generally one of two or more, consisting of a crosspiece on two uprights, for spars, boats, etc.

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gallows British  

/ ˈɡæləʊz /

noun

1. a wooden structure usually consisting of two upright posts with a crossbeam from which a rope is suspended, used for hanging criminals

2. any timber structure resembling this, such as (in Australia and New Zealand) a frame for hoisting up the bodies of slaughtered cattle

3. execution by hanging

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• gallows
  plural
• gallowses
  plural

Etymology

Origin of gallows

before 900; Middle English galwes, Old English g ( e ) algan, plural of g ( e ) alga gallows; cognate with German Galgen

Explanation

During the Salem witch trials in the late 1600s, women accused of witchcraft were executed by hanging, a gruesome process that involves a gallows, or wooden frame from which a person is hung by a rope. A gallows is a frame, usually wood, that is made up of a horizontal crossbeam from which a noose or rope is suspended. The word gallows has an s at the end of it because a gallows usually consists of two upright poles and a crossbeam. As a form of capital punishment, hanging is outlawed in almost every state, making the use of gallows these days very rare. If you see one, it will be in a museum.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

gallows gallowses

Schrader, who turns 80 in July, spoke about the coming upheaval with a mixture of fascination, resignation and dry gallows humor.

From Los Angeles Times ● May 28, 2026

Many China hawks in the administration have taken to gallows humor, calling the shift the ‘Busan Freeze,’ named for the South Korea meeting between the leaders that produced a fragile trade detente.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 10, 2026

Some of the chat leading up to this game involved the gallows humour so close to the heart of most members of the Tartan Army.

From BBC ● Oct. 12, 2025

Newsrooms being breeding grounds for gallows humor, most also understand that futility is a terrific comedy catalyst.

From Salon ● Sep. 4, 2025

So, except at the gallows, hung is the correct past tense of hang-.

From "Woe Is I" by Patricia T. O'Conner

I mean, merely, that gallowses are fast disappearing, and that the people--le peuple you will understand--begin to accept money.

From Home as Found by Cooper, James Fenimore

"I wear gallowses no more," he explained, lifting his waistcoat to show that his braces now encircled him as a belt, but even then she did not understand.

From Sentimental Tommy The Story of His Boyhood by Barrie, J. M. (James Matthew)

The comical little fellow wore an unbleached cotton shirt, and tattered pantaloons, with home-made suspenders or "gallowses."

From Queer Stories for Boys and Girls by Eggleston, Edward

Tildy and Johnny were married, and Johnny's gallowses never creaked any more.

From Lippincott's Magazine of Popular Literature and Science Volume 12, No. 30, September, 1873 by Various

When knaves come to preferment, they rise as gallowses are raised in the Low Countries, one upon another's shoulders.

From Sketches and Studies in Italy and Greece, Second Series by Brown, Horatio Robert Forbes