Meaning & use

gibbet

noun·Advanced

A gallows-like structure historically used to publicly display the bodies of executed criminals as a warning.

See it in a sentence

The traveler passed a gibbet standing at the crossroads outside the old town.

Historians described how a gibbet was once used to deter highway robbery in that region.

A note on using this word

Gibbet is now purely historical, appearing mainly in accounts of earlier centuries rather than modern usage.

Words with a similar meaning

gallows

Choose a synonym to suit the sentence. Meanings can overlap without being identical.

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