hangman

[ hang-muhn hang-man ]

noun

, plural hang·men.

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.

hangman

/ ˈhæŋmən /

noun

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

Other Words From

• under·hangman noun plural underhangmen

Word History and Origins

Origin of hangman¹

Middle English word dating back to 1350–1400; hang, man

Example Sentences

Plus hanging with a specific hangman never stopped and still is used in New Hampshire and Washington State.

From The Daily Beast

Parliament of England ordered the Book of Sports to be burned by the common hangman.

From Project Gutenberg

The solemn league and covenant burned by the common hangman at London, and afterwards throughout the country.

From Project Gutenberg

But now the hangman smokes, and the criminal condemned to death smokes before being hanged.

From Project Gutenberg

How refinedly brutal is this constant care lest the hangman be robbed of his prey!

From Project Gutenberg

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.

From Project Gutenberg