gallows bird

Hello, you have come here looking for the meaning of the word gallows bird. In DICTIOUS you will not only get to know all the dictionary meanings for the word gallows bird, but we will also tell you about its etymology, its characteristics and you will know how to say gallows bird in singular and plural. Everything you need to know about the word gallows bird you have here. The definition of the word gallows bird will help you to be more precise and correct when speaking or writing your texts. Knowing the definition ofgallows bird, as well as those of other words, enriches your vocabulary and provides you with more and better linguistic resources.

English

Alternative forms

Etymology

From gallows +‎ bird. Compare German construction Galgenvogel (literally “gallows-fowl" or "gallows-bird”), and French gibier de potence, as well as similar English jailbird.

Noun

gallows bird (plural gallows birds)

  1. (archaic) A person who deserves, or is likely, to be hanged.
    Synonyms: hangdog, wag-halter; see also Thesaurus:gallows bird
    • 1943, Esther Hoskins Forbes, Johnny Tremain:
      Everybody along Long Wharf knows you called him a gallows bird. He's not used to it.
    • 2012, Sebastian Brant, The Ship of Fools:
      The story of the man who bit off his father's nose for rearing him as a gallows bird is as old as Aesop, but no known source before Brant mentions the son's name.
    • 2015, Paul Steinberg, Speak You Also: A Holocaust Memoir:
      Before me stood not Philippe but a gallows bird no respectable citizen would want to meet up with on a lonely road.

Translations

References

Wikious
Boobota
Sagapedia