hang Hear it!

hang Definition

hang (haŋ)

transitive verb hung, hang′·ing, hanged

  1. to attach to something above with no support from below; suspend
  2. to attach so as to permit free motion at the point of attachment to hang a door on its hinges
  3. to put to death by tying a rope about the neck and suddenly suspending the body so as to snap the neck or cause strangulation
  4. to fasten (pictures, etc.) to a wall by hooks, wires, etc.
  5. to ornament or cover with things suspended to hang a room with pictures and drapes
  6. to paste (wallpaper) to walls
  7. to exhibit (pictures) in a museum or gallery
  8. to let (one's head) droop downward
  9. to fasten (an ax head, scythe blade, etc.) with correct balance
  10. to pin and sew the hem of (a dress) evenly at a desired distance from the floor
  11. ☆ to deadlock (a jury) by one's vote
  12. to fix (something) on a person or thing
  13. ☆ Baseball to pitch (a breaking ball) that fails to curve sharply and is therefore easy to hit

Etymology: ME hangen, with form < OE vi. hangian & ON vi. hanga; senses < these, also < OE vt. hon & ON caus. v. hengja; akin to Ger vi. hangen, vt. hängen, to execute (caus.): all ult. < IE base *enk, to sway, hang (akin to *keg- > hook)

intransitive verb

  1. to be attached to something above with no support from below
  2. to hover or float in the air, as though suspended
  3. to swing, as on a hinge
  4. to fall, flow, or drape, as cloth, a coat, etc.
  5. to die by hanging
    1. to incline; lean
    2. to droop; bend
  7. to be doubtful or undecided; hesitate
  8. to have one's pictures exhibited in a museum or gallery
  9. Slang: often with with[hanging with their friends at the mall]
    1. to loiter; idle
    2. to engage in social activity

noun

  1. the way that a thing hangs
  2. a pause in, or suspension of, motion

hang Idioms

get (or have) the hang of

☆
  1. to learn (or have) the knack of
  2. to understand the significance or idea of

hang a left

or hang a right

Slang to turn to the left (or right), as in driving a car

hang around

or hang about☆
  1. to cluster around
  2. Informal to loiter or linger around
  3. Informal to associate or socialize with Don't hang around those kids!

hang around with

☆

Informal to associate or socialize with

hang back

or hang off

to be reluctant to advance, as from timidity or shyness

hang fire

  1. to be slow in firing: said of a gun
  2. to be slow in doing something
  3. to be unsettled or undecided

hang five (or ten)

to ride a surfboard with the toes of one (or both) feet draped over the front edge of the board

hang in (there)

☆

Informal to hold steadfast; persevere

hang it!

an exclamation of anger or exasperation

hang it (or them or 'em) up

Informal to retire or quit

hang loose

Slang to be relaxed, easygoing, etc.

hang on

  1. to keep hold
  2. to go on doing; persevere
  3. to depend on; be contingent on
  4. to lean on; be supported by
  5. to be a burden
  6. to listen attentively to

hang one on

☆ Slang
  1. to hit with a blow
  2. to go on a drunken spree

hang out

  1. to lean out
  2. to display, as by suspending
  3. Slang
    1. to reside
    2. to spend much of one's time; frequent a place
  4. Slang to loiter; idle

hang over

  1. to project over; overhang
  2. to hover over
  3. to loom over; threaten
  4. to be left from a previous time or state

hang to

to hold or clutch tenaciously

hang together

  1. to stick or remain together
  2. to make sense in a coherent way

hang tough

Informal to take a firm or defiant stand; be inflexible

hang up

  1. to put on a hanger, hook, etc., esp. in the proper place
  2. ☆ to put a telephone receiver or handset back in place in ending a call
  3. to delay or suspend the progress of cars that are hung up in traffic

not care a hang about

or not give a hang about

to not care the least bit about

hang Synonyms

hang

v.

  1. To suspend

    dangle, attach, drape, hook up, put in a sling, hang up, nail on the wall, put on a clothesline, fix, pin up, tack up, drape on the wall, fasten up; see also fasten 1.

    Antonyms drop*, throw down, let fall.

  2. To be suspended

    overhang, be held aloft, wave, flap, be loose, be pendent, droop, flop, be in mid air, swing, dangle, jut, be fastened, impend, hover, stay up.

    Antonyms fall*, come down, drop.

  3. To kill by hanging

    execute, lynch, hang by the neck until dead, garrote, string up*, stretch*; see also kill 1.

  4. To depend

    cling, turn on, be determined by; see depend 1, 2.

get </em>or </strong>have the hang of

have the knack of, grasp, comprehend, learn; see understand 1.

not care <strong>or </strong>give a hang about

be indifferent toward, not care about, ignore; see neglect 2.

hang Usage Examples

Object

  • basket: This makes the lance ideal for watering hanging baskets or the backs of garden borders.
  • glider: As the authors put it: " An ultralight is little more than a hang glider with a motor and a seat.
  • waterer: Items include slitters, aerators, dethatchers, rollers, brushes, trailers, etc. Additions include hanging basket waterers and people carriers.
  • curtain: Can you help me find the earring that dropped from my ear a few moments ago as I was hanging some new curtains?
  • feeder: A large group of sparrows took over the hanging feeder while blue tits and coal tits tried to sieze the occasional seed.
  • rail: Inside each is a full height hanging rail at the top.

Preposition: on

  • gallows: Buried with royal ceremonial in Westminster Abbey, his corpse was dug up and hanged on a gallows less than three years later.
  • wall: A set of five diagrams are hung on the wall along the left side of the picture.
  • sec: Only, hang on a sec, it won't be that simple.

Followed by an intransitive particle

  • around: Should you hang around or is there any way out.
  • on: Thanks to all who helped we are just hanging on.
  • out: Hang out in all the cool places with our reps.

Followed by a transitive particle

  • around: Fame is an ornament to hang around the neck.

Present participle complement

  • glide: W It is quite hard to put the feeling of hang gliding into words.

Preposition: in

  • mid-air: His solos are always exciting while he has the rare quality of seeming to hang in mid-air when he jumps.
  • balance: The fate of the industry hangs in the balance.
  • air: The liquid hung in the air for a second, then flew toward them.

Preposition: from

  • ceiling: Huge static balls hung from the ceiling - observed by Lenin's portrait.

Preposition: for

  • murder: I played Derek Bentley - a teenager with a learning disability who was hanged for a murder he didn't commit.

Preposition: by

  • thread: All things mortal hang by a tenuous thread, and what was strong is ruined by sudden chance.
hang Quotes

We must indeed all hang together or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.

—Frank, Anne

I will sing no more songs: the pride of my country I sang Through forty long years of good rhyme, without any avail; And no one cared even as much as the half of a hang For the song or the singer, so here is an end of the tale.

—OŁ    Bruadair, Da¤ i bh|¤  dh

Bring the rathe primrose that forsaken dies, The tufted crow-toe, and pale gessamine, The white pink, and the pansy freaked with jet, The glowing violet, The musk-rose, and the well attir'd woodbine, With cowslips wan that hang the pensive head, And every flower that sad embroidery wears: Bid amaranthus all his beauty shed, And daffadillies fill their cups with tears, To strew the laureate hearse where Lycid lies.

—Milton,John

Any Old Place I Can Hang My Hat Is Home Sweet Home to Me.

—Jerome,William

Then hath thy orchard fruit, thy garden flowers, Fresh as the air, and new as are the hours. The early cherry, with the later plum, Fig, grape, and quince, each in his time doth come: The blushing apricot, and woolly peach Hang on thy walls, that every child may reach.

—Jonson, Ben

I think we ought to let him hang there. Let him twist slowly, slowly in the wind.

—Ehrlichman,John