Meanings
Deadly Never-Green1
alternative Deadly never green · alternative Deadly Never Green · alternative Deadly Never-green
- Synonym of Tyburn tree.
He was too young, of course, to remember Tyburn, although his father might have told him tales of the Deadly Never-Green or Three-legged Mare.
2016, Howard Engel, Lord High Executioner, Open Road Media, published 1996, unnumbered page2 more examples
64. A view of the The Road to Paddington,^([i.e., Edgware Road]) with a Representation of the Deadly Never Green that bears Fruit all the year round. This is Tyburn, with three felons hanging on it.
1867, Jacob Larwood, John Camden Hotten, The History of Signboards, John Camden Hotten, page 518They made him^([Jack Sheppard, highwayman]) a folk-hero, though eventually even he could not cheat the ‘Deadly Never-green’. After his execution he dangled on the gallows for 15 minutes before a soldier cut him down and the crowd tried in vain to resuscitate him.
1997, Brian P. Block, John Hostettler, Hanging in the Balance, Waterside Press, page 29Synonyms: Tyburn tree
Deadly Never-green2
- alternativeAlternative form of Deadly Never-Green.
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounSynonym of Tyburn tree.
Origin
A play on the conceit that the Tyburn tree (the gallows at Tyburn) was a real tree—a lethal one, devoid of greenery.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
Deadly Never-Green. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Deadly%20Never-Green
“Deadly Never-Green.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Deadly%20Never-Green. Accessed November 2, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “Deadly Never-Green,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/Deadly%20Never-Green.
Source: Deadly Never-Green on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.