hangman

Also found in: Thesaurus, Medical, Legal, Encyclopedia, Wikipedia.

hang·man

(hăng′mən)

1. A man employed to execute condemned prisoners by hanging.

2. (also -măn) A game in which one player chooses a word whose letters are guessed at by another player. For each wrong guess, a new part of the stick figure of a hanging man is drawn until either the word is guessed correctly or the drawing is completed.

American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright © 2016 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

hangman

(ˈhæŋmən)

n, pl -men

(Law) an official who carries out a sentence of hanging on condemned criminals

Collins English Dictionary – Complete and Unabridged, 12th Edition 2014 © HarperCollins Publishers 1991, 1994, 1998, 2000, 2003, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2011, 2014

hang•man

(ˈhæŋ mən)

n., pl. -men.

a person who hangs criminals who are condemned to death; public executioner.

[1350–1400]

ThesaurusAntonymsRelated WordsSynonymsLegend:

Switch to new thesaurus

Noun

hangman - an executioner who hangs the condemned person

executioner, public executioner - an official who inflicts capital punishment in pursuit of a warrant

Translations

جَلاد، مُنَفِّذ حُكْم الإعْدام

kat

bøddel

Henker

bourreau pendu

böîull

boia carnefice carnéfice

виселица

rabelj

cellat

执行绞刑者

hangman

[ˈhæŋmən] N (hangmen (pl)) → verdugo m

Collins Spanish Dictionary - Complete and Unabridged 8th Edition 2005 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1971, 1988 © HarperCollins Publishers 1992, 1993, 1996, 1997, 2000, 2003, 2005

hangman

[ˈhæŋmən] n

(= executioner) → bourreau m

(= game) → pendu m

Collins English/French Electronic Resource. © HarperCollins Publishers 2005

hangman

[ˈhæŋmən] n (-men (pl)) → boia m inv

Collins Italian Dictionary 1st Edition © HarperCollins Publishers 1995

hang

(hӕŋ) – past tense, past participle hung (haŋ) – verb

1. to put or fix, or to be put or fixed, above the ground eg by a hook. We'll hang the picture on that wall; The picture is hanging on the wall.

2. to fasten (something), or to be fastened, at the top or side so that it can move freely but cannot fall. A door hangs by its hinges.

3. (past tense, past participle hanged) to kill, or to be killed, by having a rope put round the neck and being allowed to drop. Murderers used to be hanged in the United Kingdom, but no-one hangs for murder now.

4. (often with down or out) to be bending, drooping or falling downwards. The dog's tongue was hanging out; Her hair was hanging down.

5. to bow (one's head). He hung his head in shame.

ˈhanger noun

(usually ˈcoat-hanger) a shaped metal, wooden or plastic frame with a hook on which jackets, dresses etc are hung up.

ˈhanging noun

the (act of) killing a criminal by hanging.

ˈhangings noun plural

curtains or material hung on walls for decoration.

ˈhangman noun

a man whose job it is to hang criminals.

ˈhangover noun

the unpleasant after effects of having had too much alcohol. He woke up with a hangover.

get the hang of

to learn or begin to understand how to do (something). It may seem difficult at first, but you'll get the hang of it after a few weeks.

hang about/around

1. to stand around, doing nothing. I don't like to see all these youths hanging about (street-corners).

2. to be close to (a person) frequently. I don't want you hanging around my daughter.

hang back

to hesitate or be unwilling. The soldiers all hung back when the sergeant asked for volunteers.

hang in the balance

to be in doubt. The success of this project is hanging in the balance.

hang on

1. to wait. Will you hang on a minute – I'm not quite ready.

2. (often with to) to hold. Hang on to that rope.

3. to keep; to retain. He likes to hang on to his money.

hang together

to agree or be consistent. His statements just do not hang together.

hang up

1. to hang (something) on something. Hang up your coat in the cupboard.

2. (often with on) to put the receiver back after a telephone conversation. I tried to talk to her, but she hung up (on me).

She hung the picture up.
The murderer was hanged.

Mentioned in ?

References in classic literature ?

On Death and Dread and Doom: The hangman, with his little bag,

Hooked to the blackened beam, And heard the prayer the hangman's snare

View in context

The executioner knotted the cord firmly round the unfortunate man's neck and was just about to swing him into the air, when the Sultan's purveyor dashed through the crowd, and cried, panting, to the hangman,

The hangman did as he was bid, and was tying the cord firmly, when he was stopped by the voice of the Jewish doctor beseeching him to pause, for he had something very important to say.

"Loosen the Jewish doctor," said he to the hangman, "and string up the tailor instead, since he has made confession of his crime.

View in context

'And in times to come,' pursued the hangman, 'if our grandsons should think of their grandfathers' times, and find these things altered, they'll say, "Those were days indeed, and we've been going down hill ever since." Won't they, Muster Gashford?'

'Well then, look here,' said the hangman. 'If these Papists gets into power, and begins to boil and roast instead of hang, what becomes of my work!

Gashford had leant back in his chair, regarding him with eyes so sunken, and so shadowed by his heavy brows, that for aught the hangman saw of them, he might have been stone blind.

View in context

--Gayer sallies, more merry mirth, better jokes, and brighter repartees, you never heard over your mahogany, than you will hear over the half-inch white cedar of the whale-boat, when thus hung in hangman's nooses; and, like the six burghers of Calais before King Edward, the six men composing the crew pull into the jaws of death, with a halter around every neck, as you may say.

View in context

A ladder had, in fact, been raised up against the permanent gibbet, and the hangman's assistant was busying himself with adjusting the chains which had been rusted by the rain.

View in context

What will you give a silly old man to-day to be your hangman?"

"I was ne'er a hangman in all my life, nor do I now intend to begin that trade.

View in context

Full browser ?

CITE

Site: Follow: Share:

Open / Close