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ENGLISH · A WORD WITH POSSIBILITIES

gallows.

A wooden framework on which persons are executed by hanging.

7 characters2 syllables approx.English language

Meaning & usage

noun/ˈɡæləʊz/UK/ˈɡæloʊz/US/ˈɡæləs/dialectal
  1. A wooden framework on which persons are executed by hanging.

  2. A wretch who deserves to be hanged.

    colloquial · obsolete
  3. The rest for the tympan when raised.

    obsolete
  4. Suspenders; braces.

    colloquial · obsolete
  5. Any contrivance with posts and crossbeam for suspending objects.

  6. The main frame of a beam engine.

  7. plural of gallow glyph; a specialized, ornate character that appears frequently in the Voynich Manuscript.

    form-of · plural
Where this word comes from

From Middle English galwes, galewes, plural of galwe, galowe, from Old English galga, 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.

adv/ˈɡæləʊz/UK/ˈɡæloʊz/US/ˈɡæləs/dialectal
  1. Utterly; very.

    archaic · colloquial · not-comparable
Where this word comes from

From Middle English galwes, galewes, plural of galwe, galowe, from Old English galga, 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.

verb/ˈɡæləʊz/UK/ˈɡæloʊz/US/ˈɡæləs/dialectal
  1. third-person singular simple present indicative of gallow

    form-of · indicative · present · singular · third-person
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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.