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.

---

hangman British  

/ ˈhæŋmən /

noun

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

---

Other Word Forms

• underhangman noun

Etymology

Origin of hangman

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

Example Sentences

Even the widely despised Chun escaped the hangman.

From Washington Times • Apr. 10, 2023

The hangman will be played by David Threlfall, a Tony nominee for “The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby.”

From New York Times • Feb. 1, 2022

The Good Lord Bird opens with Brown climbing a scaffold and, right before the hangman puts a hood over his head, saying, “What a beautiful country.”

From Slate • Oct. 4, 2020

A notebook and other items belonging to Britain's most famous hangman has sold at auction for £20,000.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2019

His sensitive eyes gazed gravely at the surrounding faces, swerved up to the shadowy hangman, then downward to his own manacled hands.

From "In Cold Blood" by Truman Capote