gallows

Meaning

Noun

1. Wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging.
2. (colloquial,obsolete) A wretch who deserves to be hanged.
3. (obsolete) The rest for the tympan when raised.
4. (colloquial,obsolete) Suspenders; braces.
5. Any contrivance with posts and crossbeam for suspending objects.
6. The main frame of a beam engine.

Verb

third-person singular simple present indicative of gallow

Concepts

gallows

gibbet

scaffold

halter

hanging

gallows-bird

suspenders

braces

tree

noose

boom

frame

framing

staging

structural frame

gallows frame

torture chamber

gallous

gallows tree

gallows-tree

cross

Pronounced as (IPA)

/ˈɡæləʊz/

Etymology

From Middle English galwes, galewes, plural of galwe, galowe, from Old English gealga, from Proto-West Germanic *galgō, from Proto-Germanic *galgô, from Proto-Indo-European *ǵʰalgʰ-, *ǵʰalg- (“long switch, rod, shaft, pole, perch”). The plural construction probably refers to the vertical and horizontal beams.
Compare West Frisian galge, Dutch galg, German Galgen, Danish galge, Icelandic gálgi.
For the pronunciation /ˈɡæləs/, compare bellows, bodice.