an instrument of punishment, whereon persons convicted capitally of felony, &c. are executed by hanging.

Among our ancestors it was called surca, "fork;" a name by which it is still denominated abroad, particularly in France and Italy. In this latter country, the reason of the name still subsists; the gallows being a real fork driven into the ground, across the legs whereof whereof is laid a beam, to which the rope is tied. See FURCA.