dangle

dan·gle

intransitive verb

-·gled, -·gling

to hang loosely so as to swing back and forth: a long tail dangled from the kite
to be a hanger-on; follow (after)
to refer to an implied, rather than stated, word in the sentence in which it occurs: said of a modifier [in “After marrying him, the house seemed more cheerful,” “marrying” is a dangling participle]

Origin of dangle

from Scand, as in Danish dangle, Icelandic dingla, to dangle

to hold (something) so that it hangs and swings loosely: the child dangled the doll by its arm
to offer in a tempting or teasing way as an inducement

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MLA Style

"dangle." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/dangle>.

APA Style

dangle. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/dangle

dangle

verb

dan·gled, dan·gling, dan·gles

verb

intransitive

To hang loosely and swing or sway to and fro: Earrings dangled from her ears.

verb

transitive

To cause to hang loosely or swing: dangled my feet in the water.
To offer as an inducement or an enticement: dangled the prospect of a promotion in exchange for his testimony.

Origin of dangle

Perhaps from Danish dangle or Swedish dangla

Related Forms:

dan′gler
noun

dan′gly
adjective

THE AMERICAN HERITAGE® DICTIONARY OF THE ENGLISH LANGUAGE, FIFTH EDITION by the Editors of the American Heritage Dictionaries. Copyright © 2016, 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

Link/Cite

Link to this page

Cite this page

MLA Style

"dangle." YourDictionary, n.d. Web. 18 December 2018. <https://www.yourdictionary.com/dangle>.

APA Style

dangle. (n.d.). Retrieved December 18th, 2018, from https://www.yourdictionary.com/dangle

Verb

(third-person singular simple present dangles, present participle dangling, simple past and past participle dangled)

(intransitive) to hang loosely with the ability to swing
His feet would dangle in the water.
(intransitive, slang, ice hockey, lacrosse) The action of performing a move or deke with the puck in order to get past a defender or goalie; perhaps because of the resemblance to dangling the puck on a string.
He dangled around three players and the goalie to score.
To hang or trail something loosely.
I like to sit on the edge and dangle my feet in the water.

Noun

(plural dangles)

An agent of one intelligence agency or group who pretends to be interested in defecting or turning to another intelligence agency or group.
(slang, ice hockey, lacrosse) The action of dangling; a series of complex stick tricks and fakes in order to defeat the defender in style.
That was a sick dangle for a great goal!
A dangling ornament or decoration.

Anagrams

Origin

Perhaps of Scandinavian origin, akin to Danish dingle.

English Wiktionary. Available under CC-BY-SA license.