"gallow" meaning in All languages combined

See gallow on Wiktionary

Noun [English]

Forms: gallows [plural], gally [alternative, dialectal], galler [alternative, dialectal], gall [alternative, dialectal], galley [alternative, obsolete]
Head templates: {{en-noun}} gallow (plural gallows)
  1. Ellipsis of gallow glyph. Tags: abbreviation, alt-of, ellipsis Alternative form of: gallow glyph Synonyms: gallow character
    Sense id: en-gallow-en-noun-hLRYzj1b Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Fear Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 51 2 45 2 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 49 3 46 2 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 50 2 46 2 Disambiguation of Fear: 40 14 46 0
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 2

Verb [English]

IPA: /ˈɡæləʊ/ Audio: LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gallow.wav [Southern-England] Forms: gallows [present, singular, third-person], gallowing [participle, present], gallowed [participle, past], gallowed [past], gally [alternative, dialectal], galler [alternative, dialectal], gall [alternative, dialectal], galley [alternative, obsolete]
Rhymes: -æləʊ Etymology: 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”). Etymology templates: {{inh|en|enm|*galowen}} Middle English *galowen, {{inh|en|ang|*gǣlwan}} Old English *gǣlwan, {{unk|en|title=unknown}} unknown, {{ncog|enm|galyen}} Middle English galyen, {{ncog|ang|galan|t=to sing, call}} Old English galan (“to sing, call”), {{ncog|non|gala|t=to sing, shout, crow}} Old Norse gala (“to sing, shout, crow”), {{ncog|non|gjalla|t=to yell, shout}} Old Norse gjalla (“to yell, shout”) Head templates: {{en-verb}} gallow (third-person singular simple present gallows, present participle gallowing, simple past and past participle gallowed)
  1. (now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To frighten, alarm, scare, or terrify. Tags: dialectal, transitive
    Sense id: en-gallow-en-verb-TQJomK97 Categories (other): Fear Disambiguation of Fear: 40 14 46 0
  2. (now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To drive or scare away. Tags: dialectal, transitive
    Sense id: en-gallow-en-verb-YRbmcfV0 Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries, Fear Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 51 2 45 2 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 49 3 46 2 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 50 2 46 2 Disambiguation of Fear: 40 14 46 0
  3. (now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To confuse with noise. Tags: dialectal, transitive
    Sense id: en-gallow-en-verb-oTgwT4eF
The following are not (yet) sense-disambiguated
Etymology number: 1

Inflected forms

{
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "*galowen",
      "Reconstruction:Middle English/galowen"
    ],
    [
      "*galewen",
      "Reconstruction:Middle English/galewen"
    ],
    [
      "*galwen",
      "Reconstruction:Middle English/galwen"
    ],
    [
      "begalewen",
      "begalewen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "*gǣlwan",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/gælwan"
    ],
    [
      "*gēlwan",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/gelwan"
    ],
    [
      "āgǣlwed",
      "agælwed#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "āgēlwed",
      "agelwed#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "galyen",
      "galyen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "galien",
      "galien#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "galen",
      "galen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "galan",
      "galan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "gala",
      "gala#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "gjalla",
      "gjalla#Old_Norse"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "*galowen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English *galowen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "*gǣlwan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English *gǣlwan",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "title": "unknown"
      },
      "expansion": "unknown",
      "name": "unk"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "galyen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English galyen",
      "name": "ncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "galan",
        "t": "to sing, call"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English galan (“to sing, call”)",
      "name": "ncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "gala",
        "t": "to sing, shout, crow"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse gala (“to sing, shout, crow”)",
      "name": "ncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "gjalla",
        "t": "to yell, shout"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse gjalla (“to yell, shout”)",
      "name": "ncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gallows",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gallowing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gallowed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gallowed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gally",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galler",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gall",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galley",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "gallow (third-person singular simple present gallows, present participle gallowing, simple past and past participle gallowed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "40 14 46 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Fear",
          "orig": "en:Fear",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              21,
              27
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:",
          "text": "The wrathful skies / Gallow the very wanderers of the dark / And make them keep their caves.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To frighten, alarm, scare, or terrify."
      ],
      "id": "en-gallow-en-verb-TQJomK97",
      "links": [
        [
          "frighten",
          "frighten"
        ],
        [
          "alarm",
          "alarm"
        ],
        [
          "scare",
          "scare"
        ],
        [
          "terrify",
          "terrify"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To frighten, alarm, scare, or terrify."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 2 45 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 3 46 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 2 46 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "40 14 46 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Fear",
          "orig": "en:Fear",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To drive or scare away."
      ],
      "id": "en-gallow-en-verb-YRbmcfV0",
      "links": [
        [
          "drive",
          "drive away"
        ],
        [
          "scare away",
          "scare away"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To drive or scare away."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "glosses": [
        "To confuse with noise."
      ],
      "id": "en-gallow-en-verb-oTgwT4eF",
      "links": [
        [
          "confuse",
          "confuse"
        ],
        [
          "noise",
          "noise"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To confuse with noise."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɡæləʊ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gallow.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/01/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/01/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æləʊ"
    }
  ],
  "word": "gallow"
}

{
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gallows",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gally",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galler",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gall",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galley",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "gallow (plural gallows)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "gallow glyph"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        {
          "_dis": "51 2 45 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "49 3 46 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "50 2 46 2",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "40 14 46 0",
          "kind": "other",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Fear",
          "orig": "en:Fear",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Ellipsis of gallow glyph."
      ],
      "id": "en-gallow-en-noun-hLRYzj1b",
      "links": [
        [
          "gallow glyph",
          "gallow glyph#English"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "gallow character"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "ellipsis"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "gallow"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "English terms derived from Middle English",
    "English terms derived from Old English",
    "English terms inherited from Middle English",
    "English terms inherited from Old English",
    "English terms with unknown etymologies",
    "English verbs",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "Rhymes:English/æləʊ",
    "Rhymes:English/æləʊ/2 syllables",
    "en:Fear"
  ],
  "etymology_links": [
    [
      "*galowen",
      "Reconstruction:Middle English/galowen"
    ],
    [
      "*galewen",
      "Reconstruction:Middle English/galewen"
    ],
    [
      "*galwen",
      "Reconstruction:Middle English/galwen"
    ],
    [
      "begalewen",
      "begalewen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "*gǣlwan",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/gælwan"
    ],
    [
      "*gēlwan",
      "Reconstruction:Old English/gelwan"
    ],
    [
      "āgǣlwed",
      "agælwed#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "āgēlwed",
      "agelwed#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "galyen",
      "galyen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "galien",
      "galien#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "galen",
      "galen#Middle_English"
    ],
    [
      "galan",
      "galan#Old_English"
    ],
    [
      "gala",
      "gala#Old_Norse"
    ],
    [
      "gjalla",
      "gjalla#Old_Norse"
    ]
  ],
  "etymology_number": "1",
  "etymology_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "enm",
        "3": "*galowen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English *galowen",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "2": "ang",
        "3": "*gǣlwan"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English *gǣlwan",
      "name": "inh"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "en",
        "title": "unknown"
      },
      "expansion": "unknown",
      "name": "unk"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "enm",
        "2": "galyen"
      },
      "expansion": "Middle English galyen",
      "name": "ncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "ang",
        "2": "galan",
        "t": "to sing, call"
      },
      "expansion": "Old English galan (“to sing, call”)",
      "name": "ncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "gala",
        "t": "to sing, shout, crow"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse gala (“to sing, shout, crow”)",
      "name": "ncog"
    },
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "non",
        "2": "gjalla",
        "t": "to yell, shout"
      },
      "expansion": "Old Norse gjalla (“to yell, shout”)",
      "name": "ncog"
    }
  ],
  "etymology_text": "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”).",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gallows",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gallowing",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gallowed",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gallowed",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gally",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galler",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gall",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galley",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "gallow (third-person singular simple present gallows, present participle gallowing, simple past and past participle gallowed)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dialectal terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "bold_text_offsets": [
            [
              21,
              27
            ]
          ],
          "ref": "c. 1603–1606, William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of King Lear”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, published 1623, →OCLC, [Act III, scene ii]:",
          "text": "The wrathful skies / Gallow the very wanderers of the dark / And make them keep their caves.",
          "type": "quotation"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To frighten, alarm, scare, or terrify."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "frighten",
          "frighten"
        ],
        [
          "alarm",
          "alarm"
        ],
        [
          "scare",
          "scare"
        ],
        [
          "terrify",
          "terrify"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To frighten, alarm, scare, or terrify."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dialectal terms",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To drive or scare away."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "drive",
          "drive away"
        ],
        [
          "scare away",
          "scare away"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To drive or scare away."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English dialectal terms",
        "English transitive verbs"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To confuse with noise."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "confuse",
          "confuse"
        ],
        [
          "noise",
          "noise"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(now chiefly dialectal, transitive) To confuse with noise."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "dialectal",
        "transitive"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "sounds": [
    {
      "ipa": "/ˈɡæləʊ/"
    },
    {
      "audio": "LL-Q1860 (eng)-Vealhurl-gallow.wav",
      "mp3_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/01/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav.mp3",
      "ogg_url": "https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/transcoded/0/01/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav/LL-Q1860_%28eng%29-Vealhurl-gallow.wav.ogg",
      "tags": [
        "Southern-England"
      ]
    },
    {
      "rhymes": "-æləʊ"
    }
  ],
  "word": "gallow"
}

{
  "categories": [
    "English countable nouns",
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English nouns",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries",
    "en:Fear"
  ],
  "etymology_number": "2",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "gallows",
      "tags": [
        "plural"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gally",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galler",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "gall",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "dialectal"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "galley",
      "tags": [
        "alternative",
        "obsolete"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {},
      "expansion": "gallow (plural gallows)",
      "name": "en-noun"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "noun",
  "senses": [
    {
      "alt_of": [
        {
          "word": "gallow glyph"
        }
      ],
      "categories": [
        "English ellipses"
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "Ellipsis of gallow glyph."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "gallow glyph",
          "gallow glyph#English"
        ]
      ],
      "synonyms": [
        {
          "word": "gallow character"
        }
      ],
      "tags": [
        "abbreviation",
        "alt-of",
        "ellipsis"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "gallow"
}

Download raw JSONL data for gallow meaning in All languages combined (5.9kB)


This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable All languages combined dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2026-09-28 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2026-09-02 using wiktextract (1a05e46 and e3d6d4e). The data shown on this site has been post-processed and various details (e.g., extra categories) removed, some information disambiguated, and additional data merged from other sources. See the raw data download page for the unprocessed wiktextract data.

If you use this data in academic research, please cite Tatu Ylonen: Wiktextract: Wiktionary as Machine-Readable Structured Data, Proceedings of the 13th Conference on Language Resources and Evaluation (LREC), pp. 1317-1325, Marseille, 20-25 June 2022. Linking to the relevant page(s) under https://kaikki.org would also be greatly appreciated.