Gallows
an instrument or apparatus on which criminals are executed by hanging. It is usually constructed of two posts with a cross-beam on the top, from which the criminal is hanged by a rope passing round his neck. In agriculture, the central core of four Indian cornstalks, interlaced diagonally and bound at the intersection, forming a stool or support for cut corn, which is bound around it to form a shock. In printing, the rest for the tympan when open. Also the frame supporting the beam of a steam engine.