gallows
Americannoun
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a wooden frame, consisting of a crossbeam on two uprights, on which condemned persons are executed by hanging.
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a similar structure from which something is suspended.
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execution by hanging.
a crime deserving of the gallows.
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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.
noun
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a wooden structure usually consisting of two upright posts with a crossbeam from which a rope is suspended, used for hanging criminals
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any timber structure resembling this, such as (in Australia and New Zealand) a frame for hoisting up the bodies of slaughtered cattle
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execution by hanging
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.
Vocabulary lists containing gallows
Life Is So Good
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Chains
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Treasure Island
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
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
For local establishments, the newly offered specials are part gallows humor, part business gamble.
From The Wall Street Journal • Oct. 8, 2025
Newsrooms being breeding grounds for gallows humor, most also understand that futility is a terrific comedy catalyst.
From Salon • Sep. 4, 2025
“I meant it as a bit of gallows humor, but he answered by essentially saying, Actually, sort of,” Gluck, a journalist, writes in his forthcoming memoir, An Exercise in Uncertainty.
From Slate • May 2, 2025
He is the all-father, the lord of the slain, the gallows god.
From "Norse Mythology" by Neil Gaiman
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
