Scapegallows

noun, slang

noun, slang ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun
  1. 1
    A criminal who has narrowly escaped from being hanged. colloquial, dated

    "[…] And remember this, 'scapegallows,' said Ralph, menacing him with his hand, 'that if we meet again, and you so much as notice me by one begging gesture, you shall see the inside of a jail once more […]"

Example

More examples

"[…] And remember this, 'scapegallows,' said Ralph, menacing him with his hand, 'that if we meet again, and you so much as notice me by one begging gesture, you shall see the inside of a jail once more […]"

Etymology

From scape (archaic for escape) + gallows.

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.