gibbet

Definition

An upright post with a crosspiece used for execution and subsequent public display.

Etymology

From Middle English gibet, from Old French gibet (French gibet), either from Frankish *gibb (“forked stick”) or from Latin gibbus (“hunchbacked”).

Example Sentences

• "Near-synonym: gallows"
• "Thy Friends without the help of Prophecie, / Read Goals^([sic – meaning Gaols]) and Gibbets in thy Deſtiny; […]"
• "No, had every Commandment but a Gibbet belonging to it, I ſhould not have had four King's Evidences to-day ſwear impudently I was a Papiſt, when I was never at Maſs yet ſince I was born, nor indeed at any other Worſhip theſe twenty Years."