gallows

Etymology 1

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

noun

1. Wooden framework on which persons are put to death by hanging.
   No, Sir, 'tis fear of Hanging. Who would not ſteal, or do Murder, every time his Fingers itch'd at it, were it not for fear of the Gallows? 1728, Thomas Otway, “The Atheist, or, the Second Part of the Solider's Fortune”, in The Works of Mr. Thomas Otway, volume 2, London, page 37
2. (colloquial, obsolete) A wretch who deserves to be hanged.
   Ay, and a shrewd unhappy gallows too. / You'll ne'er be friends with him: a' kill'd your sister. 1590, William Shakespeare, Love's Labour's Lost
3. (printing, obsolete) The rest for the tympan when raised.
4. (colloquial, obsolete) Suspenders; braces.
5. Any contrivance with posts and crossbeam for suspending objects.
   Lit by the moonlight through the window, he can see a FIGURE in the hospital bed alone in the room, and under a transparent oxygen tent. […] Tubes hang from a steel gallows beside the bed, and run to his nose and mouth. 1971, Mario Puzo, Francis Ford Coppola, The Godfather (screenplay, third draft)
6. The main frame of a beam engine.

Etymology 2

verb

1. third-person singular simple present indicative of gallow