Legal Definitions - gallows

A gallows refers to a structure, typically constructed from wood, specifically designed for the execution of individuals by hanging. It generally consists of two vertical posts supporting a horizontal crossbeam, from which a rope and noose are suspended.

Here are some examples illustrating the term:

• Imagine a scene from a historical drama set in a medieval European town. A large crowd gathers in the central square, watching as a prisoner is led to a prominent wooden structure. This structure, with its two tall uprights and a heavy crossbeam, stands as the grim instrument for carrying out the sentence of death by hanging.

  This illustrates a gallows as a physical, purpose-built structure used for capital punishment in a historical context.

• In a classic novel depicting a tyrannical regime, the protagonist observes a newly erected wooden frame on a hill overlooking the city. The sight of this stark structure, clearly built with a horizontal beam supported by two uprights, serves as a constant, terrifying reminder to the populace of the regime's absolute power and its willingness to execute dissenters.

  Here, the gallows functions as a powerful symbol of state authority and the ultimate consequence of defying it, even if an actual execution isn't explicitly described, its presence conveys the term's meaning.

• During a university lecture on the history of capital punishment, the professor discusses the various methods of execution used over centuries. She describes how, for a long period in many legal systems, the primary method involved a condemned person being suspended from a specially constructed wooden framework, often referred to as the gallows, until death occurred.

  This example uses the term "gallows" in an educational context to refer to the historical apparatus used for judicial hanging, highlighting its role in past legal procedures.