Meanings
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1
noun
historical: a gallows or similar framework used to hang a person or display an executed person's body
The old map marked the hill where a gibbet once stood beside the road.
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2
verb
historical: to execute by hanging or to hang a body on a gibbet for public display
The authorities threatened to gibbet convicted pirates at the harbor entrance.
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3
verb
to expose someone to public contempt or ridicule
The pamphlet gibbeted corrupt officials before the reading public.
Thesaurus
Etymology
From Middle English gibet and Old French gibet. Its deeper origin is uncertain; proposals connect it with a Germanic word for a forked stick or with Latin gibbus ('humped'). The figurative verb extends public bodily display to public disgrace.