▪ I. gallows, n.
(ˈgæləʊz)
Forms: α. sing. 1 galᵹa, ᵹealᵹa, (3 Comb. galhe-), 3–4 gal(e)we, (5 Comb. galle-), 5–6 galow(e, 6–7 gallow, 7–9 gall(e)y. β. pl. in sing. sense, later construed as sing. 3–5 galwes, (4 galewis, -ewys, -uus), 4–5 galus, (5 galhouse, -hows, galohous), 5–6 gallous, galowes, (5 galawis, -ays, -ewes, galghes, galos, -ouys, -owys), 6–7 gallowes, (6 galoss, gallhouse, gallies, -oes, -owes, -us), 9 gallos, -us, 6– gallows. γ. with additional pl. suffix, 6 gal(l)osses, 7–9 gallowses, (9 gallaces, -usses).
[OE. galᵹa, ᵹealᵹa wk. masc. = OFris. galga, OS. and OHG. galgo (Ger. galgen), ON. galge (Da. and Sw. galge), Goth. galga:—OTeut. *galgon-; perh. cogn. with Lith. žalga, Armen. dzaλk pole.]
1. An apparatus for inflicting the punishment of death by hanging, usually consisting of two uprights and a cross-piece, from which the criminal is suspended by the neck. Sometimes used as equivalent to cross. See cross n. 1.
In OE. the sing. galᵹa and the pl. galᵹan are both used for ‘a gallows’, the pl. having reference presumably to the two posts of which the apparatus mainly consisted. Occasional examples of the sing. form occur in ME., and even down to the 17th c.; but from the 13th c. onwards the plural galwes and its later phonetic representatives have been the prevailing forms. So far as our material shows, Caxton is the first writer to speak of ‘a gallows’, though he also uses the older expression ‘a pair of gallows’; but it is, of course, possible that the pl. form was sometimes treated as a sing. much earlier. From the 16th c. gallows has been (exc. arch. in ‘pair of gallows’) used as a sing., with a new plural gallowses; the latter, though perh. not strictly obsolete, is now seldom used; the formation is felt to be somewhat uncouth, so that the use of the word in the plural is commonly evaded.
| α Beowulf (Z.) 2446 Swa bið ᵹeomor-lic gomelum ceorle to ᵹebidanne, þæt his byre ride ᵹiong on galᵹan. a 1000 Juliana 482 Sume ic rode befealh þæt hi..on hean galᵹan lif aletan. c 1000 ælfric Gloss. in Wr.-Wülcker 116/19 Patibulum, galᵹa. 1483 Cath. Angl. 149/1 A Galowe, furca. 1535 Coverdale Esther v. 14 Let them make a galowe of fiftye cubites hie. 1561 T. Norton Calvin's Inst. Calvin's Pref., Worthy of a thousand fires and gallowes. 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. xvi. F j, With gyues, and fetters Ile tame the vnder a galow dyre. 1681 W. Robertson Phraseol. Gen. (1693) 1014 Do you look I should..praise you, who deserved the Gallow so lately? |
| β c 1300 Havelok 1161 Thou shal to the galwes renne. c 1330 R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 172 Galwes do ȝe reise, and hyng þis cheitefe. a 1400–50 Alexander 1813 And for þaire souerayne sake þam send to þe galawis. 1480 Caxton Chron. Eng. ccxliv. (1482) 305 There was made a newe payre of galewes and a strong cheyne and a coler of yren for hym. c 1489 ― Blanchardyn xlviii. 187 He shold doo make and to be sette vp a galhouse. 1549 Compl. Scotl. xii. 102 Tua speyris..stude vp fra the eyrd lyik ane gallus. 1589 Marprel. Epit. C iv, The theefe on the gallowes was saued without them. 1600 Shakes. A.Y.L. iii. ii. 345 Who doth he [Time] gallop withal?.. With a theefe to the gallowes. a 1627 Hayward Edw. VI (1630) 64 He took the maior aside and..required of him that a paire of gallowes should be framed and erected. 1689 Wood Life 19 Dec. (O.H.S.) III. 318 A gallowes being erected before Temple gate. 1756–7 tr. Keysler's Trav. (1760) I. 409 Two ladders are placed against the gallows. 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. vii, ‘Why do you trifle away time in making a gallows?—that dyester's pole is good enough for the homicide.’ 1855 Milman Lat. Chr. xiv. vii. (1864) IX. 222 In the older versions the now ignoble words ‘hanging and the gallows’ were used instead of the Crucifixion and the Cross. |
| γ 1562 Turner Herbal ii. 46 a, Mandrag..groweth not vnder gallosses. 1673 [R. Leigh] Transp. Reh. 108 Make bonfires of the gallowses, set open all the prisons. 1775 J. Sullivan in Sparks Corr. Amer. Rev. (1853) I. 72 That all our liberty-poles will soon be converted into gallowses. 1801 Helen M. Williams Sk. Fr. Rep. I. xvii. 209 Previous to this epocha, gallowses had been erected at Naples. |
2. a. The punishment itself.
| 1483 Caxton Cato A vij, His fader..bought him ageyn fro the galowes and fro dyshonest dethe. 1522 More De quat. Noviss. Wks. (1557) 82 His galowes & death standeth within .x. mile at y⊇ farthest, & yours within .lxxx. a 1533 Frith Disput. Purg. (1533) G v b, When we say that such a man hath delyuered his freende from the gallowes, we mean not that he was all ready hanged. 1603 Shakes. Meas. for M. i. ii. 84 What with the sweat, what with the gallowes, and what with pouerty, I am Custom-shrunke. 1730 in Swift's Lett. (1768) IV. 251 Into their secular hands the poor authors must be delivered to..pillories, whippings, and the gallows. 1836 Hor. Smith Tin Trump. (1876) 174 Gallows—a cure without being a prevention of crime. 1881 Besant & Rice Chapl. of Fleet I. 48 The gallows did not terrify these evil-doers. |
b. to have the gallows in one's face: to have the look of one predestined to or deserving the gallows.
| 1610 Shakes. Temp. i. i. 32 This fellow..hath no drowning marke vpon him; his complexion is perfect Gallowes. 1710 Palmer Proverbs 114 The gallows is almost as visible in their face as their nose: as is often to be seen in a thoro'pac'd villain. 1768 Goldsm. Good-n. Man v. (Globe) 637/1 Hold him fast, the dog; he has the gallows in his face. 1835 Marryat Jac. Faithf. viii, ‘There's gallows marked in his face’, observed another. |
c. Proverbs.
| 13.. Sir Beues (A.) 1217 Deliure a þef fro þe galwe, He þe hateþ after be alle halwe! 1484 Caxton Fables of æsop i. x, Yf ye kepe a man fro the galhows he shalle neuer loue yow after. 1583 Golding Calvin on Deut. li. 307 Saue a theefe from the gallowes and hee will helpe to hang thee. 1592 Greene Disput. 3 He that feares the Gallowes shal neuer be good theefe. 1593 Nashe Christ's T. Pref. Ep., Saue a thief from the gallows, and hee'le be the first to shew the way to Saint Gilesesse. |
3. One deserving the gallows; a gallows-bird.
| 1588 Shakes. L.L.L. v. ii. 12 He hath beene fiue thousand yeeres a Boy. I, and a shrewd vnhappy gallowes too. 1611 Beaum. & Fl. Knt. Burn Pestle i. iii, Though he be a notable gallows, yet I'll assure you his master did turn him away. 1749 B. Martin Eng. Dict., Gallows, a wicked rascal. 1838 Dickens O. Twist xi, ‘Now, young gallows!’ This was an invitation for Oliver to enter through a door..which led into a stone cell. |
† 4. Used to render L.
furcæ.
a. = fork 5 b.
b. Gallows of Caudium = Caudine Forks: see
fork 14.
Obs.| 1565–73 Cooper Thesaurus, Abire sub iugum..to passe or go vnder the gallies. 1618 [see fork 5 b (a)]. |
5. Applied to various objects consisting of two or more supports and a cross-piece.
† a. An iron support for a pot over a kitchen fire.
Cf. gallowsbalk.
Obs.| 1512 Will in Southwell Visit. (1891) 116, I bequeth to the chauntrye priest..oon paire of galoes of yrne. 1576 Inv. in Ripon Ch. Acts (Surtees) 378 A paire of iron gallows. |
b. Naut. (See
quot. 1867.)
| 1769 Falconer Dict. Marine (1789) D d iij b, Their [booms'] after-ends are usually sustained by a frame called the gallows. 1867 Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Gallows, the cross⁓pieces on the small bitts at the main and fore hatch-ways in flush-decked vessels, for stowing away the booms and spars over the boats. |
† c. Printing. ‘A frame used for supporting the tympans of the old wooden presses when turned up’ (Jacobi).
Obs.| 1683 Moxon Mech. Exerc. II. 328 One Press-man..will Beat so soon as he has laid the Tympan on the Gallows after Pulling. 1808 C. Stower Printer's Gram. 506* Fig. 8 is the gallows, in which the frame A, B, B is screwed to the front of the carriage, between the joints of the tympan. 1833 J. Holland Manuf. Metal II. 210 The gallows for the tympans is also removed. |
d. A gymnastic apparatus.
| 1817 Southey Jrnl. in C. C. Southey Life & Corr. IV. 268 Others were swinging in such attitudes as they liked from a gallows. 1827 Arnold Let. in Stanley Life & Corr. (1844) I. 72 When..I could no more..hang on a gallows, nor climb a pole. |
e. A part of a plough (see
quot. 1842).
| 1840 Jrnl. R. Agric. Soc. I. iii. 219 An old Berkshire plough (with a high gallows in front). 1842 Johnson Farmer's Encycl., Gallows of a plough, a part of the plough-head, so named by farmers, from its resemblance to the common gallows. It consists of three pieces of timber, of which one is placed transversely over the heads of the other two. |
f. (See
quots.)
| 1866 M. A. Barker Station Life in New Zeal. x. 64 The ‘gallows’, a high wooden frame from which the carcases of the butchered sheep dangle. 1883 Gresley Gloss. Coal Mining, Gallows, a crown-tree with a prop placed underneath each end of it. 1883 Hampshire Gloss., Gallows, a frame formed by fixing four poles, two and two, in the ground, crossed X wise, and laying another pole across, against which planks or boards are set when sawn out, to dry. 1883 Standard 7 Sept. 5/3 They attacked..the carcases on the ‘meat gallows’. 1890 Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 350 The ‘gallows’ of the colonists, a rough, rude contrivance consisting of two uprights and a crosspiece for elevating slaughtered cattle. |
6. ‘Suspenders’ for trousers; braces. Now
dial.,
Sc. and
U.S., in the form
gallowses, whence
occas. gallows for a single brace. Freq. in the form
gallus in the
U.S. So
galgen in Swiss German; also
Du. (vulgar).
| 1730–6 Bailey (fol.), Gallowses, contrivances made of cloth, and hooks and eyes, worn over the shoulders by men to keep their breeches up. 1813 Southey Lett. (1856) LV. 530 note, He..used to have books, pen, ink and paper, breeches, gallowses, neck cloth, and rolls and butter, all upon the breakfast table at the same time. 1827 Sir J. Barrington Pers. Sk. II. 50 The ball appeared to have hit the buckle of his gallows (yclept suspenders) by which it had been impeded. 1830 R. Warner Lit. Recoll. I. 100 His under-clothes unsupported by those indispensable articles of decent attire denominated gallows. 1837 Haliburton Clockm. Ser. i. xv. 141 Chock full of spring like the wire eend of a bran new pair of trowser gallusses. 1868 Waugh Sneck-Bant ii. 38 His breeches wur nobbut fastened wi' one gallace. 1884 J. Renton in Mod. Scott. Poets Ser. vii. 51 My gallowses baith strang and guid. 1888 Sheffield Gloss., Gallaces, braces for the trousers. 1896 Crockett Cleg Kelly xiv. 104 The tattered trousers with one ‘gallus’ displayed across the blue shirt. 1932 W. Faulkner Light in August xviii. 404 Even if I dont wear no tin star on my galluses. 1932 E. Caldwell Tobacco Road xiv. 166 He stepped into his overalls, put one arm through a gallus. 1942 O. Nash Good Intentions 145 To supply each of my pairs of pants with its own set of galluses. 1957 R. A. Heinlein Door into Summer (1967) iii. 51 Oh, I'm a gallus-snapper when I get started; you should see me wear women's hats at parties. |
7. attrib. and
Comb., as (sense 1)
gallows † -knowe (
= knoll),
gallows-maker,
gallows-pin,
gallows-rope;
gallows-ward adv.; (sense 2)
gallows-free adj.,
gallows-worthy adj. and
n.; (sense 2 b)
gallows-mark; (sense 5)
gallows-frame,
gallows-timber; (sense 6)
gallows-buttons.
| 1836–54 Bywater Sheffield Dial. 162 ‘Thah mah breik all the *gallos buttons off.’ |
| 1881 Raymond Mining Gloss., *Gallows-frame, a frame over a shaft, carrying the pulleys for the hoisting cables. |
| 1681 Dryden Abs. & Achit. ii. 431 Let him be *gallows-free by my consent. |
| 1864 A. McKay Hist. Kilmarnock (1880) 342 They were led from the town to suffer punishment at the *gallows-knowe. |
| 1602 Shakes. Ham. v. i. 49 Clo. What is he that builds stronger than either the mason, the shipwright, or the carpenter? Other. The *Gallowesmaker; for that Frame outliues a thousand Tenants. |
| 1767 Bush Hibernia Cur. (1769) 7 A fellow..with a *gallows-mark upon his face. |
| c 1750 Mary Hamilton in Child Ballads (1889) III. 125 To see the face of his Molly fair Hanging on the *gallows pin. |
| 1839 Carlyle Chartism iii. 121 Scramble along..with thy..plebeian *gallows-ropes. 1859 Dickens T. Two Cities i. v, Foreheads knitted into the likeness of the gallows-rope. |
| 1851 Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 28 *Gallows Timber, a crown-tree, with a prop placed under each end. |
| a 1895 Stevenson Weir of Hermiston iii. (1896) 49 The man..was hunted *gallowsward with jeers. |
| 1819 Sporting Mag. III. 214 Many respectable..sinners, deliberately..commit *gallows-worthy crimes. 1828 Ibid. XXI. 226 The master..attended by one of those gallows-worthies. |
8. Special comb.:
gallows-apple slang (
to make gallows-apples of = to hang);
gallows-bitts = 5 b;
† gallow-breed Sc. = gallows-bird;
gallows-brood, a number of young gallows-birds: see
gallows-bird;
gallows-climber, one doomed to climb the ladder at the gallows,
i.e. to be hanged;
gallows-face, one who bears the mark of the gallows in his face (
cf. 2 b); hence
gallows-faced adj.;
gallows-foot, the space immediately in front of the gallows;
† gallow-fork = gallows-tree;
gallows-gate dial. (see
quot.);
gallow-lea, a level place on which the gallows was erected;
gallows-humour, grim, ironical humour; ‘sick’ humour;
cf. Galgenhumor;
gallows-locks, hair that hangs like gallows ropes;
gallows-ripe a., ready to be hanged;
gallows-rounded a., (of hair) cut round like that of a condemned criminal;
gallows-sockets,
Printing (see
quot.);
gallows-stanchions = 5 b;
† gallows-strings, a term of reproach (
cf. hang-string);
gallows-tool (see
quot. and
cf. sense 5);
gallows-top = 5 b.
| 1830 Lytton P. Clifford III. vii. 126 They're resolved to make *gallows apples of all such Numprels (Nonpareils) as you. |
| 1815 Falconer's Dict. Marine (ed. Burney), *Gallows-bits, on flush-decks, a strong frame of oak about eight inches square, made in the form of a gallows, and fixed at the fore and main hatchway, to support the spare top-masts, yards, booms, boats, etc. |
| 1508 Dunbar Flyting w. Kennedie 141 Lyk to ane *gallow breid, Ramand, and rolpand, beggand koy and ox. |
| 1831 Scott Diary 8 Jan. in Lockhart, A little *gallows-brood they were and their fate will catch it. |
| 1668 Davenant Man's the Master iii. i, Pattern of rogues! thou *gallows climber! |
| 1724 Ramsay Gent. Sheph. iv. i, I crave your pardon, *gallows-face!’ |
| 1769 H. Brooke Fool of Qual. IV. xvii. 67 Art thou there, thou rogue, thou hang⁓dog, thou *gallows-faced vagabond? |
| 1818 Scott Hrt. Midl. iv, And had just cruppen to the *gallows-foot to see the hanging. |
| a 1225 Ancr. R. 174 Touward þe waritreo [v.r. *galheforke] of helle. |
| 1893 Wiltsh. Gloss., *Gallows-gate, a light gate, consisting only of a hinged style, top-rail and one strut. |
| 1901 W. D. Howells in North Amer. Rev. Nov. 710 The honors are not quite so easy in the matter of *gallows-humor. 1935 Archit. Rev. LXXVII. 31/1 These may not be altogether unintentional touches of what the Germans call ‘gallows-humour’. 1958 Times 17 July 4/3 The explosive vitality, full-blooded sentiment, and gallows humour that pervade the play. |
| 1582–8 Hist. Jas. VI (1804) 135 Thair was interchange of thir twa maid with consent of all pairties at the *gallowlee betuix Edinburghe and Leith. 1828 Scott F.M. Perth iii, Thou must be bold, Henry; and bear thyself not as if thou wert going to the gallow-lee. |
| 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1812) II. 79 His hair hung in straight *gallows locks about his ears. |
| 1837 Carlyle Fr. Rev. II. v. iii. 270 Jourdan himself remains unhanged; gets loose again as one not yet *gallows-ripe. |
| 1567 Drant Horace, Ep. xix. F vij, What though one..Should Cato counterfeate..in his *gallowes rounded hayre. |
| 1841 W. Savage Art Print. 249 *Gallows Sockets. Two pieces of wood with square mortises in them, to receive the ends of the gallows; they are nailed or screwed upon the plank behind the tympans. |
| 1675 Cotton Scoffer Scoft 86, I, hang him, little *Gallow-strings, He does a thousand of these things. |
| 1884 F. J. Britten Watch & Clockm. 110 *Gallows Tool, a tool in which a pinion is placed by clockmakers when the leaves on bottoms are to be filed. |
▪ II. gallows, a. (
ˈgæləʊz,
ˈgæləs)
[Developed from the attrib. use of the n. In the first quot. perh. intended as a derivative (f. gallow + -ous).] 1. Fit for the gallows; deserving to be hanged; villainous, wicked. Now only
dial. in weaker sense,
esp. of children: Impish, wild, mischievous.
gallows air = hangdog air: see hangdog a.
| c 1425 Found. St. Bartholomew's (E.E.T.S.) 37 This gallowus man toke hym by the skyrtis of his palle or mantyl. 1551 Robinson tr. More's Utopia i. (1805) 76 No gallous wretche, I am not angry. c 1708 [? E. Ward] Welsh Monster 33 For ev'ry Line did in it bear Such a rebellious Gallows Air, That [etc.]. 1785 Burns Earnest Cry 54 An' plunder'd o' her hindmost groat By gallows knaves. 1820 W. Irving Sketch Bk. (1859) 23 Wolf..sneaked about with a gallows air. 1882 Lanc. Gloss., Gallows, cunning, designing full of duplicity. 1884 Upton Gloss. s.v., ‘'Taint as the lad's wicked, nor yet spiteful, but 'e's desp'rut gallus.’ 1892 G. Hake Mem. 80 Yrs. 44 They [King's Ward boys at Christ's Hospital circa 1820] were always considered a very gallous [sic] set, which in the school vocabulary signified ‘daring’. |
2. dial. and
slang. [Prob. from the
adv. Cf. bloody a. 10.] As an intensive: Very great, excellent, ‘fine’, etc.
| 1789 G. Parker Life's Painter 132 While some their patter flash'd in gallows fun and joking. 1830 Lytton P. Clifford iii. x. 232 If so be as ow little Paul vas a vith you, it vould be a gallows comfort to you. 1888 Berksh. Gloss., s.v., A gallus lot on 'um (a large number of them). |
3. Comb.:
gallows-looking a., looking fit for the gallows, having a hang-dog look.
| 1809 W. Irving Knickerb. (1812) II. 72 Their gallows-looking myrmidons. 1842 Barham Ingol. Leg., Misadv. Margate, A little gallows-looking chap. |
Hence
ˈgallowsness dial., mischief, perversity.
| 1859 Geo. Eliot A. Bede 62, I never knew your equals for gallowsness. |
▪ III. gallows, adv. dial. and
slang. (
ˈgæləʊz,
ˈgæləs)
[f. the n.] With intensive force: Extremely, very, ‘jolly’.
| a 1823 Song in Byron's Juan xi. xix. note, Then your Blowing will wax gallows haughty, When she hears of your scaly mistake. a 1845 Hood Forl. Sheph. Compl. ix, I've been so gallows honest in this Place. 1862 H. Kingsley Ravenshoe II. xv. 163 The pleece come in, and got gallus well kicked about the head. 1892 Mrs. S. Batson Dark II. v. 100 ‘A gallus bad wench her be!’ |