gallows bird

English

Alternative forms

gallows-bird

Etymology

Compare virtually identical French construction gibier de potence and German construction Galgenvogel, as well as similar English jailbird.

Noun

gallows bird (plural gallows birds)

(archaic) A person who deserves to be, or is likely to be hanged.

Synonyms

hangdog, wag-halter; See also Thesaurus:gallows bird

Related terms

jailbird

Translations

person who deserves to be hanged

Bulgarian: обесник (bg) m (obesnik)
Dutch: galgenaas n
Esperanto: nutraĵo de eŝafodo
Estonian: võllaroog
French: gibier de potence (fr) m
German: Galgenvogel (de) m

Hungarian: akasztófáravaló (hu), akasztófavirág (hu)
Irish: ropaire gaid m
Italian: pendaglio da forca m
Latin: crux f
Spanish: carne de patíbulo f

References

gallows-bird, Slang and Its Analogues Past and Present: Fla to Hyps, William Ernest Henley, p. 106
gallows-bird, Cassell’s dictionary of slang, Jonathon Green, p. 563

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