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plural gallows or (rare) gallowses
Wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging. quotations examples
No, Sir, 'tis fear of Hanging. Who would not ſteal, or do Murder, every time his Fingers itch'd at it, were it not for fear of the Gallows?
1728, Thomas Otway, “The Atheist, or, the Second Part of the Solider's Fortune”, in The Works of Mr. Thomas Otway, volume 2, London, page 37
(colloquial, obsolete) A wretch who deserves to be hanged. quotations
Ay, and a shrewd unhappy gallows too. / You'll ne'er be friends with him: a' kill'd your sister.
1590, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost
(printing, obsolete) The rest for the tympan when raised.
(colloquial, obsolete) Suspenders; braces.
Any contrivance with posts and crossbeam for suspending objects. quotations examples
Lit by the moonlight through the window, he can see a FIGURE in the hospital bed alone in the room, and under a transparent oxygen tent. […] Tubes hang from a steel gallows beside the bed, and run to his nose and mouth.
1971, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather (screenplay, third draft)
The main frame of a beam engine. examples
third-person singular simple present indicative of gallow examples