Meaning of three-legged mare | Babel Free

Definitions

1. A type of gallows consisting of a wooden triangle supported by three wooden legs, used for public hangings.
   UK, historical
2. Synonym of Tyburn tree.

Examples

“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.”

“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.”

“"Here, now," someone close to her carriage shouted, "let the bad 'un ride the three-legged mare."”

CEFR level