hangman

Meanings

1. 1
   noun

   an executioner whose duty is to put condemned people to death by hanging

   The hangman checked the gallows before the sentence was carried out.

2. 2
   noun

   a word-guessing game in which each wrong letter adds a part to a drawing of a hanged figure

   The children played hangman while they waited for the train.

Inherited from Middle English hangman, formed from hang + man. The name of the word game comes from the gallows and figure traditionally drawn after incorrect guesses.

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