Home › Words › H › hangmanhangman/ˈhæŋˌmæn/hangman means an executioner responsible for hanging criminals.hangman is pronounced /ˈhæŋˌmæn/.EtymologyInherited from Middle English hangman, hongman, hangeman, equivalent to hang + -man.nounAn executioner responsible for hanging criminals.e.g.“One cried, "God bless us!" and "Amen" the other, As they had seen me with these hangman's hands.” — c. 1606 (date written), William Shakespeare, “The Tragedie of Macbeth”, in Mr. William Shakespeares Comedies, Histories, & Tragedies […] (First Folio), London: […] Isaac Iaggard, and Ed[ward] Blount, Someone responsible for hanging pictures and other artworks in a gallery, museum etc.A guessing game where one has to guess the word an opponent is thinking of by guessing one letter at a time, and involving the gradual drawing of a stick figure hanging from the gallows.Definitions & examples from Wiktionary (CC BY-SA 3.0).