noun
gallows
GAL-ohz/ˈɡæləʊz/
A frame used to execute people by hanging.
The empty gallows has a crossbeam above a raised platform.
Etymology
Middle English galwe named the execution structure. The plural form reflects its construction from two poles, though gallows can now name a single structure.
In context
winged, harmonious, and la Esmeralda of the last day, in her scanty shift, with a rope about her neck, mounting slowly with her bare feet, the angular ladder of the gallows;
More examples
- Several gallows stood in the historical account.
- The museum displayed a gallows.
- The prisoner feared the gallows.
Forms
gallows
Similar words
- scaffold
- A broader raised structure, sometimes for execution.
- gibbet
- A related historical structure also used to display a body.