Braces; suspenders. Bailey, 1730–6. N.E.D.
1806. It must be very handy to have shoulder-straps instead of gallowses,—besides, gallows is an ugly name.—‘Spirit of the Public Journals,’ p. 154 (Balt.).
1824. Many of us wore gallowses, sat behind the singers, and had the choice to wear shoes or go barefoot.—The Microscope, March 6 (Albany).
1834. The other singularity is, that they [the Weehawk people] wear no gallowses, or suspenders.—Robert C. Sands, ‘Writings,’ ii. 282 (N.Y.). (Italics in the original.)
1839. Have you heern of a machine for fastening your gallowses behind?—Havana (N.Y.) Republican, July 31.
1843. [He wore] one “gallus” hard strained to keep up his greasy and raggy breeches.—B. R. Hall (‘Robert Carlton’), ‘The New Purchase,’ ii. 89.
1847. Is it not enough that we have ‘suspenders,’ or ‘gallowses’ as our juvenile nomenclature used to have it?—Knick. Mag., xxix. 386 (April).
1848. Ef I could only come across that ere Vermonter which I was took in by, if I wouldn’t spile his picter, bust my boots and gallowses!—Durivage and Burnham, ‘Stray Subjects,’ pp. 167–8.
1850. The boys … displayed their ‘bran new gallowses.’—Knick. Mag., xxxv. 24 (Jan.).
1854. There ’s my hat, Squire … and you shall have my gallusses as soon as I can get at ’em.—Id., xliii. 50 (Jan.).
1854. Next is something that you all ought to have, gentlemen: a lot of good gallowses, sometimes called suspenders.—San Francisco News, n.d.
1857. Between seven and eight, he [the Yankee boy] … suspends his trowsers by strings … which he calls ‘galluses.’—Knick. Mag., xlix. 530 (May).
