# gallows

> English word · Noun · IPA /ˈɡæləʊz/ · frequency rank #26,095

## Definitions
1. A wooden framework on which persons are executed by hanging.
2. A wretch who deserves to be hanged.
3. The rest for the tympan when raised.
4. Suspenders; braces.
5. Any contrivance with posts and crossbeam for suspending objects.
6. The main frame of a beam engine.

## Etymology
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.

## Easily confused with
- **glows** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gallows-vs-glows)
- **Gallo** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gallo-vs-gallows)
- **gallon** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gallon-vs-gallows)
- **gallop** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/gallop-vs-gallows)
- **Galloway** (https://plainspell.com/en/vs/galloway-vs-gallows)

## Common misspellings (9)
`agllows`, `gallosw`, `gallowss`, `gallowws`, `gallwos`, `galolws`, `galows`, `ggallows`, `glalows`

## Source
Compiled from Wiktionary via kaikki.org (CC BY-SA). Data vintage: 2026-05-06.
Canonical page: https://plainspell.com/en/word/gallows