A noose was a knot tied in rope which was specifically used for execution — or simple murder — by hanging a person by the neck. In October 1881, Steven Taylor was fitted with a noose by Phineas Clanton, with the approval of the rest of the Clanton gang. He was saved from death by the timely intervention of Wyatt Earp. (TV: "Johnny Ringo")
Likewise, the Sixth Doctor was nearly executed by hanging on Varos, but the Governor of Varos had deliberately ordered that the noose not be secured to anything. Thus, when the trap door under the Doctor opened, he fell through safely — and discovered that the Governor regularly used only the threat of hanging to elicit last-minute confessions from his subjects. (TV: Vengeance on Varos)