a wooden frame, consisting of a crossbeam on two uprights, on which condemned persons are executed by hanging.
a similar structure from which something is suspended.
execution by hanging: a crime deserving of the gallows.
Also called gallows bitts .Nautical. a support on the deck of a vessel, generally one of two or more, consisting of a crosspiece on two uprights, for spars, boats, etc.
Origin of gallows
before 900; Middle English galwes,Old English g(e)algan, plural of g(e)alga gallows; cognate with German Galgen
Gallows humor has always served him and other activists well; it had to in such dark times.
Gay Activist David Mixner: I Mercy Killed 8 People|Tim Teeman|October 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Whichever of the groups was in power would be marching the other to the gallows.
Saddam’s Former Deputy, the Red Skull of Baghdad, Still at Large in Iraq and Allied With ISIS|Jacob Siegel, Christopher Dickey|July 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
But when the people we put in power strung him up on the gallows his last words proved almost true.
Iraq Is Not Our War Anymore. Let It Be Iran’s Problem.|Christopher Dickey|July 17, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The last tally of children on death row, in 2011, estimated at least 143 child offenders were awaiting the gallows in Iran.
Iran to Hang Abused Child Bride|Nina Strochlic|June 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Languishing in a prison cell in southwestern Iranian city of Ahvaz, 21-year-old Razie Ebrahimi awaits her date with the gallows.
Iran to Hang Abused Child Bride|Nina Strochlic|June 20, 2014|DAILY BEAST
I shall die, Joscelyn, but like a soldier; not on the gallows.
Joscelyn Cheshire|Sara Beaumont Kennedy
The judges were more concerned with appeasing the people than with recalling old precedents, and sent the woman to the gallows.
A History of Witchcraft in England from 1558 to 1718|Wallace Notestein
"Gallows Tree" hill, against which the first charge of the counter attack was delivered, was held by nearly 1000 tribesmen.
The Story of the Malakand Field Force|Sir Winston S. Churchill
Tom Hyde, the tinker, standing on the gallows, was asked if he had anything to say.
Walden, and On The Duty Of Civil Disobedience|Henry David Thoreau
The exact position of the Tyburn gallows has been a matter of some controversy.
The Chronicles of Newgate, vol. 1/2|Arthur Griffiths
British Dictionary definitions for gallows
gallows
/ (ˈɡæləʊz) /
nounplural-lowsesor-lows
a wooden structure usually consisting of two upright posts with a crossbeam from which a rope is suspended, used for hanging criminals
any timber structure resembling this, such as (in Australia and New Zealand) a frame for hoisting up the bodies of slaughtered cattle
the gallowsexecution by hanging
Word Origin for gallows
C13: from Old Norse galgi, replacing Old English gealga; related to Old High German galgo