Basic Details
Word: Hangman
Part of Speech: Noun
Meaning: A pencil-and-paper game in which one player guesses the letters of a hidden word before a stick figure is drawn. In the past, it also meant a man whose job was to carry out executions by hanging.
Synonyms: executioner
How to Spell Hangman
Syllables: hang - man
Tricky part: It is simply hang and man joined together, with no letter added between them. The plural is hangmen, so the a changes only when there is more than one.
Watch out for: hangeman, hangmann, hengman
Memory tip: Picture the game on a whiteboard: the word HANG on one side, the stick MAN on the other. Join them and you have hangman.
Usage Examples
Example 1: We played hangman on the whiteboard during the last period on Friday.
Example 2: Rohan picked rhythm, a word with no ordinary vowels, to beat us at hangman.
Example 3: In the old story, the hangman refused to obey the king's unfair order.
Fun Fact
Good hangman players guess E, T, A and O early, because these are among the most common letters in English words.
Practise the CREST Way
Word Makeup
Choose the correctly spelt compound word:
a) workmenship
b) horsman
c) gentelman
d) hangman
Show answer
d) hangman. Gentleman needs le, workmanship keeps man, and horseman keeps the e of horse.
Word Cookie
Find the extra letter in the word:
hangeman
a) e
b) a
c) n
d) g
Show answer
a) e. Nothing comes between hang and man, so the e has to go.
Mingle-Mangle
Unjumble the letters in the sentence to form a meaningful word:
On the long bus ride to camp, we passed the time with a game of mngaahn in a notebook.
a) hangman
b) anagram
c) handyman
d) chairman
Show answer
a) hangman. Count the n's: there are two, with no d, y or r, so only hangman can be made.
Multiple Choice Questions
1. In the word game hangman, players try to ____.
a) count all the vowels in a book
b) draw a map of a hidden city
c) guess a hidden word one letter at a time
d) build the longest possible sentence
Show answer
c) guess a hidden word one letter at a time
2. What is the plural of hangman?
a) hangmen
b) hangsmen
c) hangmans
d) hangmanes
Show answer
a) hangmen
