hangman

American  

[hang-muhn, hang-man] / ˈhæŋ mən, ˈhæŋˌmæn /

noun

plural

hangmen

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.

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hangman British  

/ ˈhæŋmən /

noun

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

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Other Word Forms

• underhangman noun

Etymology

Origin of hangman

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

Example Sentences

When Merv Griffin created “Wheel of Fortune” in 1975 as television’s answer to hangman, it spent its early years on ratings life support.

From New York Times

Actually it was a little bit like a stick figure, like in hangman, but with more details.

From Literature

Last year’s attacks in Maryland included spray-painted hangmen and swastikas along public hiking trails, the words “Jews not welcome” scrawled across the entrance sign of a high school, and hateful words directed at Jewish students.

From Washington Post

A petition to spare Freddy from the hangman's noose received more than a million signatures.

From BBC

In his bathroom brooding raptors hooded like hangmen shifted sullenly upon their perches.

From New York Times