Synonyms for gallows


Grammar : Noun
Spell : gal-ohz, -uh z
Phonetic Transcription : ˈgæl oʊz, -əz


Définition of gallows

Origin :
  • c.1300, plural of Middle English galwe "gallows" (mid-13c.), from Old Norse galgi "gallows," or from Old English galga (Mercian), gealga (West Saxon) "gallows;" all from Proto-Germanic *galgon- "pole" (cf. Old Frisian galga, Middle High German galge "gallows, cross," German Galgen "gallows," Gothic galga "cross"), from PIE *ghalgh- "branch, rod" (cf. Lithuanian zalga "pole, perch," Armenian dzalk "pole"). In Old English, also used of the cross of the crucifixion. Plural because made of two poles.
  • noun place for hanging
Example sentences :
  • Hurry on the accursed witches to the gallows, ere they do more mischief!
  • Extract from : « Main Street » by Nathaniel Hawthorne
  • Yet, who would by his evidence send a brother to the gallows?
  • Extract from : « The Story of the Malakand Field Force » by Sir Winston S. Churchill
  • The street frightened her, since it led either to the gallows or to the river.
  • Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
  • The fear of death paralysed her efforts to escape the gallows.
  • Extract from : « The Secret Agent » by Joseph Conrad
  • In this country the gallows is chiefly remarkable for the number of persons who escape it.
  • Extract from : « The Devil's Dictionary » by Ambrose Bierce
  • Not merely the cannons and rifles, but even the guillotine and the gallows were at rest.
  • Extract from : « Freeland » by Theodor Hertzka
  • And they'll hang me to the gallows, mother—hang me till I'm dead!
  • Extract from : « Farm Ballads » by Will Carleton
  • The gallows has me in its grasp, and it is a black phantom that may urge me on to something more.
  • Extract from : « Barnaby Rudge » by Charles Dickens
  • Too awful it is for an aged man to bide and bear, that his bairn so young rides on the gallows.
  • Extract from : « Beowulf » by Anonymous
  • It was his fate to escape the gallows in England and the guillotine in France.
  • Extract from : « Shelley, Godwin and Their Circle » by H. N. Brailsford

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Based on : Thesaurus.com - Gutenberg.org - Dictionary.com - Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019