gallows

1 of 2

noun

gal·​lows ˈga-(ˌ)lōz 

-ləz,

in sense 3 also

-ləs 

plural gallows or gallowses

1

a

: a frame usually of two upright posts and a transverse beam from which criminals are hanged

called also gallows tree

b

: the punishment of hanging

2

: a structure consisting of an upright frame with a crosspiece

3

: suspender sense 2a

gallows

2 of 2

adjective

: deserving the gallows

Examples of gallows in a Sentence

Noun

He was sentenced to death on the gallows.

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

Parker Lyons, a senior financial analyst at Twitter, fired off a series of gallows-humor tweets late in the week joking about LinkedIn recruiters circling and about angst over checking his email. —Sarah E. Needleman, WSJ, 5 Nov. 2022

In the end, Poe has the opportunity to turn Landor in and send him to the gallows, but instead decides the detective has suffered enough and burns the evidence. —Megan McCluskey, Time, 6 Jan. 2023

Adjective

Thankfully, Preston suffuses the piece with a gallows humor that proves absolutely crucial. —Longreads, 12 Apr. 2024

There is a gallows humor in their songs about addiction and inertia, with a strong anti-capitalist streak to boot. —David Renshaw, WIRED, 26 Dec. 2023

Word History

Etymology

Noun

Middle English galwes, galwes, plural of galwe, going back to Old English galga, gealga, going back to Germanic *galgōn "pole, stake, pole on which a condemned person was hung" (whence Old Saxon galgo "gallows, stake," Old High German galga, galgo, Old Norse galgi, Gothic galga "stake, cross"), going back to dialectal Indo-European *ǵholgh-, whence also Lithuanian žalgà "thin stake" and perhaps Armenian jałk

First Known Use

Noun

before the 12th century, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Adjective

15th century, in the meaning defined above

Phrases Containing gallows

• gallows bird
• gallows humor
• send to the gallows

Kids Definition

gallows

noun

gal·​lows

ˈgal-(ˌ)ōz,

-əz

plural gallows or gallowses

1

: a structure from which criminals are hanged

2

: the punishment of hanging

was sentenced to the gallows