gallows

English

Pronunciation

• IPA: /ˈɡæləʊz/

• Audio (US)

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Etymology 1

Old English ġealga.

Noun

gallows (plural gallows or gallowses)

1. Wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging.
   • 1728, Otway, Thomas, “The Atheist, or, the Second Part of the Solider's Fortune”, in The Works of Mr. Thomas Otway^[1], volume 2, page 37:

     No, Sir, 'tis fear of Hanging. Who would not ſteal, or do Murder, every time his Fingers itch'd at it, were it not for fear of the Gallows?

Synonyms

• gallows tree, gallow tree, hanging tree, gibbet

Derived terms

• gallows bird, gallows humor

Translations

wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging

Arabic: مشنقة (ar) (míshnaqa) f. Chinese: Mandarin: 絞刑架 (cmn), 绞刑架 (cmn) (jiǎoxíngjià), 絞台 (cmn), 绞台 (cmn) (jiǎotái) Croatian: vjȅšala (hr) f. Czech: šibenice (cs) f. Danish: galge (da) c. Dutch: galg (nl) Estonian: võllas Finnish: hirsipuu (fi) French: gibet (fr) m., potence (fr) f. German: Galgen (de) m. Greek: αγχόνη (el) (anchóni) f. Hungarian: akasztófa (hu) Italian: forca (it)

Japanese: 絞首台 (ja) (こうしゅだい, kōshudai) Latin: arbor (la) f., gabalus (la) m. Latvian: kārtavas (lv) f. pl. Norwegian: galge (no) m. Persian: چوبه دار (fa) (ĉōba ye dâr) Polish: szubienica (pl) f. Portuguese: forca (pt), cadafalso (pt) m. Russian: виселица  (ru) (víselica) f. Serbian: šibenica f., vešala f. Slovak: šibenica f. Spanish: horca (es) f., patíbulo (es) m. Swedish: galge (sv) c. Tatar: дар (tt) (dar) Vilamovian: guolgia

Etymology 2

Verb

gallows

1. Third-person singular simple present indicative form of gallow.