"cheat the hangman" meaning in English

See cheat the hangman in All languages combined, or Wiktionary

Verb

Forms: cheats the hangman [present, singular, third-person], cheating the hangman [participle, present], cheated the hangman [participle, past], cheated the hangman [past]
Etymology: In full "cheat the hangman of his fee", since a hangman would not be paid if there was nobody to hang. Head templates: {{en-verb|*}} cheat the hangman (third-person singular simple present cheats the hangman, present participle cheating the hangman, simple past and past participle cheated the hangman)
  1. To die, especially by suicide, while under sentence of death, or while guilty of a capital crime; also, to kill someone else who is in such a state. Categories (topical): Capital punishment
    Sense id: en-cheat_the_hangman-en-verb-6tFTa3x~ Categories (other): English entries with incorrect language header, Entries with translation boxes, Pages with 1 entry, Pages with entries Disambiguation of English entries with incorrect language header: 89 11 Disambiguation of Entries with translation boxes: 83 17 Disambiguation of Pages with 1 entry: 92 8 Disambiguation of Pages with entries: 93 7
  2. To escape punishment for one's crimes; to get away with something.
    Sense id: en-cheat_the_hangman-en-verb-c5AU3RxG
{
  "etymology_text": "In full \"cheat the hangman of his fee\", since a hangman would not be paid if there was nobody to hang.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cheats the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cheating the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cheated the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cheated the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "cheat the hangman (third-person singular simple present cheats the hangman, present participle cheating the hangman, simple past and past participle cheated the hangman)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "topical",
          "langcode": "en",
          "name": "Capital punishment",
          "orig": "en:Capital punishment",
          "parents": [
            "Criminal law",
            "Death",
            "Law",
            "Body",
            "Life",
            "Justice",
            "All topics",
            "Nature",
            "Society",
            "Fundamental"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "89 11",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "83 17",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Entries with translation boxes",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "92 8",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        },
        {
          "_dis": "93 7",
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w+disamb"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1831, Richard Longeville Vowell, William D. Mahoney, Campaigns and Cruises, in Venezuela and New Grenada, and in the Pacific Ocean, Longman, page 69:",
          "text": "I sincerely hope, for your sake, that Don Beltran may expiate his treason, on the old Spanish gibbet in the Recoveco, as soon as Caraccas is a little more quiet; unless, indeed, the earthquake has already cheated the hangman of his fee, as is most probable.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Bernard Wasserstein, Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in our Time, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Twelve were condemned to death by hanging, among them Göring, who cheated the hangman by swallowing a cyanide tablet in his cell.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To die, especially by suicide, while under sentence of death, or while guilty of a capital crime; also, to kill someone else who is in such a state."
      ],
      "id": "en-cheat_the_hangman-en-verb-6tFTa3x~",
      "links": [
        [
          "die",
          "die"
        ],
        [
          "suicide",
          "suicide"
        ],
        [
          "sentence",
          "sentence"
        ],
        [
          "death",
          "death"
        ],
        [
          "guilty",
          "guilty"
        ],
        [
          "capital",
          "capital"
        ],
        [
          "crime",
          "crime"
        ],
        [
          "kill",
          "kill"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Alice Freifeld, Nationalism and the Crowd in Liberal Hungary, 1848-1914, →ISBN, page 107:",
          "text": "Rozsa's escapes from the gendarmerie were followed closely by the invisible crowd, and every time he cheated the hangman his legend grew.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To escape punishment for one's crimes; to get away with something."
      ],
      "id": "en-cheat_the_hangman-en-verb-c5AU3RxG",
      "links": [
        [
          "escape",
          "escape"
        ],
        [
          "punishment",
          "punishment"
        ],
        [
          "get away with",
          "get away with"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cheat the hangman"
}
{
  "categories": [
    "English entries with incorrect language header",
    "English lemmas",
    "English multiword terms",
    "English verbs",
    "Entries with translation boxes",
    "Pages with 1 entry",
    "Pages with entries"
  ],
  "etymology_text": "In full \"cheat the hangman of his fee\", since a hangman would not be paid if there was nobody to hang.",
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "cheats the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cheating the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cheated the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "cheated the hangman",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "*"
      },
      "expansion": "cheat the hangman (third-person singular simple present cheats the hangman, present participle cheating the hangman, simple past and past participle cheated the hangman)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations",
        "en:Capital punishment"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1831, Richard Longeville Vowell, William D. Mahoney, Campaigns and Cruises, in Venezuela and New Grenada, and in the Pacific Ocean, Longman, page 69:",
          "text": "I sincerely hope, for your sake, that Don Beltran may expiate his treason, on the old Spanish gibbet in the Recoveco, as soon as Caraccas is a little more quiet; unless, indeed, the earthquake has already cheated the hangman of his fee, as is most probable.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2007, Bernard Wasserstein, Barbarism and Civilization: A History of Europe in our Time, →ISBN:",
          "text": "Twelve were condemned to death by hanging, among them Göring, who cheated the hangman by swallowing a cyanide tablet in his cell.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To die, especially by suicide, while under sentence of death, or while guilty of a capital crime; also, to kill someone else who is in such a state."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "die",
          "die"
        ],
        [
          "suicide",
          "suicide"
        ],
        [
          "sentence",
          "sentence"
        ],
        [
          "death",
          "death"
        ],
        [
          "guilty",
          "guilty"
        ],
        [
          "capital",
          "capital"
        ],
        [
          "crime",
          "crime"
        ],
        [
          "kill",
          "kill"
        ]
      ]
    },
    {
      "categories": [
        "English terms with quotations"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "2000, Alice Freifeld, Nationalism and the Crowd in Liberal Hungary, 1848-1914, →ISBN, page 107:",
          "text": "Rozsa's escapes from the gendarmerie were followed closely by the invisible crowd, and every time he cheated the hangman his legend grew.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To escape punishment for one's crimes; to get away with something."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "escape",
          "escape"
        ],
        [
          "punishment",
          "punishment"
        ],
        [
          "get away with",
          "get away with"
        ]
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "cheat the hangman"
}

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This page is a part of the kaikki.org machine-readable English dictionary. This dictionary is based on structured data extracted on 2024-11-06 from the enwiktionary dump dated 2024-10-02 using wiktextract (fbeafe8 and 7f03c9b). 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.

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