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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gallow.

To frighten, alarm, scare, or terrify.

6 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

verb/ˈɡæləʊ/
  1. To frighten, alarm, scare, or terrify.

    dialectal · transitive
  2. To drive or scare away.

    dialectal · transitive
  3. To confuse with noise.

    dialectal · transitive
Where this word comes from

From Middle English *galowen, *galewen, *galwen (attested in begalewen (“to frighten”)), from Old English *gǣlwan, *gēlwan (attested in āgǣlwed, āgēlwed (“stupified, astonished, disconcerted”)), of unknown origin. Alternative forms gally, galley perhaps influenced by Middle English galyen, galien, variants of galen (“to cry out, shout, make a harsh cry”), from Old English galan (“to sing, call”). Compare also Old Norse gala (“to sing, shout, crow”), Old Norse gjalla (“to yell, shout”).

noun
  1. Ellipsis of gallow glyph.

    abbreviation · alt-of · ellipsis
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Definitions, grammatical labels, IPA, etymology and examples: Wiktionary contributors, extracted by Kaikki / Wiktextract. Adapted under CC BY-SA 4.0. Selected fields and authored examples are shown; third-party quotations and audio are omitted. See contributor history.

Last enriched 2026-09-10. Definitions are in English. Romanizations are shown when supplied by the source; syllable estimates are omitted for unsupported scripts.