dance on a rope

English

Verb

dance on a rope (third-person singular simple present dances on a rope, present participle dancing on a rope, simple past and past participle danced on a rope)

1. (dated) To be hanged.
   • 2011, Karen Maitland, The Gallows Curse:

     He sat and watched him dancing on a rope, choking and fighting for every breath, until his tongue swelled up in his mouth and his face turned black and still he struggled.

   • 2018, Anna Day, The Fandom:

     'Here. they arrest some jumped-up little rebel called Rose.' His finger hits nine o'clock. His voice rising with urgency. 'I meet her in my office, she shows no remorse. I think how lovely she'll look dancing on a rope.' He moves his finger close to the first line — the twelve o;clock line. 'I watch the bitch hang, the crowd turns and rips the gallows to the ground, then . . . Bam.'

   • 2022, Robert McCammon, The King of Shadows:

     “I ain't no murderer and I don't care to dance on a rope!” “Me neither!” Gravelling's voice was just as shaky. “I'm lookin' at a few years, but not the hangman!”

2. Used other than figuratively or idiomatically: see dance,‎ rope.; to dance on a tightrope or slack rope as an entertainer.