Subscriber login


Forgot your password?

Library card login

Other

gallows

Syllabification: (gal·lows)
Pronunciation: /ˈgalōz/
Translate gallows | into German | into Italian | into Spanish
Definition of gallows

noun

[usually treated as singular]
  • a structure, typically of two uprights and a crosspiece, for the hanging of criminals.
  • (the gallows) execution by hanging:saved from the gallows by a last-minute reprieve

Origin:

Old English galga, gealga, of Germanic origin; related to Dutch galg and German Galgen; reinforced in Middle English by Old Norse gálgi

gallows in other Oxford dictionaries

Definition of gallows in the British & World English dictionary

Nearby words

  |  Cite

Word of the day

offing

/ ˈɒfɪŋ /
noun
the more distant part of the sea in view …