Word.ws English Dictionary

three-legged mare

three-legged mare noun: a type of gallows consisting of a wooden triangle supported by three wooden legs, used for public hangings.

three-legged mare: a type of gallows consisting of a wooden triangle supported by three wooden legs, used for public...
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Noun

three-legged mare (plural three-legged mares)

  1. (UK, historical) A type of gallows consisting of a wooden triangle supported by three wooden legs, used for public hangings.
    • The original three-legged mare was the Tyburn tree, which stood near a major road junction in Middlesex (present-day Greater London); another well-known example was the York Tyburn at Knavesmire, Yorkshire.
    • They call a thing a three-legged mare, // Where they will fit each neck with a nooze, / Then with our beads to say our last prayer, // After all this to die in our shoes.c. 1882-98, Unknown author, “The Reading Skirmish”, in Francis James Child, editor, English and Scottish Ballads, Volume IV, Houghton, Mifflin and Company, page 247

Proper noun capitalized: Three-legged mare

Three-legged mare

  1. Synonym of Tyburn tree.
    Synonyms:
    Tyburn tree

Examples of three-legged mare in a sentence

  • Few, however, quitted the highway^([i.e., the life of the highwayman]) except for the "three-legged mare" at Tyburn, and the one- or two-legged mares of other places; and he held on his way.1908, Charles George Harper, Half-Hours With the Highwaymen: Volume 2, Outlook Verlag, published 2020, page 147:
  • "Here, now," someone close to her carriage shouted, "let the bad 'un ride the three-legged mare."1982, Kathryn Atwood, Renegade Lady, Jove, page 2:

Synonyms of three-legged mare

Forms of three-legged mare

pluralthree-legged mares

Words formed from three-legged mare

Questions about three-legged mare

What does three-legged mare mean?
Three-legged mare means a type of gallows consisting of a wooden triangle supported by three wooden legs, used for public hangings.
How do you use three-legged mare in a sentence?
Few, however, quitted the highway^([i.e., the life of the highwayman]) except for the "three-legged mare" at Tyburn, and the one- or two-legged mares of other places; and he held on his way.
What part of speech is three-legged mare?
Three-legged mare can be a noun or a proper noun.
What is the plural of three-legged mare?
The plural of three-legged mare is three-legged mares.

Words near three-legged mare in the dictionary

  1. three-in-hands
  2. three-in-one
  3. three-in-oneness
  4. three-in-ones
  5. three-legged
  6. three-legged mare
  7. three-legged mares
  8. three-legged race
  9. three-legged races
  10. three-leggeds
  11. three-letter agencies

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: three-legged mare (page history and authors); Three-legged mare (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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