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Glite Dictionary
gallows bird

gallows bird

9.9
A person people think should be hanged, often a repeat criminal
  • noun
  • /ˈɡæloʊz bɜrd/
  • Offensive
translation icon : canalla
  • The sheriff called him a gallows bird after catching him robbing the stagecoach again.

Examples

  • Many believed the notorious thief was a true gallows bird, destined for the noose.

  • The judge called him a gallows bird for his crimes.

  • In the old novel, the villain was frequently referred to as a gallows bird by townsfolk.

  • In the old days, a gallows bird was often sentenced to death.

  • The townspeople considered him a gallows bird because of his repeated crimes and villainous deeds.

  • After his third conviction, the judge declared him a gallows bird who would not escape the hangman's noose.

  • Everyone agreed that he was a gallows bird given his history of stealing and evading the law.

How Bad

murderer
  • NSFW
946 3.4
gallows bird
  • Offensive
9.9
villain
272 3.3
criminal
∞ 2.1
troublemaker
  • Offensive
69 4.1

Surface Forms

gallows bird singular
gallows birds plural

Morphology

gallows + bird

The constituent 'gallows' clearly evokes hanging/execution and 'bird' can function metaphorically for a person, so a learner who knows both words could infer someone associated with the gallows (i.e., destined to be hanged). However, the animal-as-person metaphor and the specific idiomatic nuance 'deserving hanging/persistent criminal' require cultural or idiomatic knowledge beyond literal composition, so the meaning is not fully predictable.

Etymology

Gallows bird may come from the picture of a small bird sitting on the wooden beam of the gallows, the place where criminals were hanged. That's why people used it for someone they thought should be hanged or a 'villain'.