Word definition: hang

Etimology


From Middle English hangen, hongen, from a fusion of Old English hōn (“to hang, be hanging”, intransitive verb) and hangian (“to hang, cause to hang”, transitive verb), from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han and *hangēn; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja (“to suspend”) and hanga (“to be suspended”); all from Proto-Germanic *hanhaną, *hangāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenk- (“to waver, be in suspense”). See also Dutch hangen, Low German hangen and hängen, German hängen, Norwegian Bokmål henge, Norwegian Nynorsk henga; also Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (hāhan), Hittite 𒂵𒀀𒀭𒂵 (/⁠kānk-⁠/, “to hang”), Sanskrit शङ्कते (śáṅkate, “is in doubt, hesitates”), Latin cūnctārī (“to delay”).

verb


hang (third-person singular simple present hangs, present participle hanging, simple past and past participle hung or (legal) hanged)

(intransitive) To be or remain suspended.

(intransitive) To float, as if suspended.

(intransitive) To veer in one direction.

(intransitive, of a ball in cricket, tennis, etc.) To rebound unexpectedly or unusually slowly, due to backward spin on the ball or imperfections of the ground.

(transitive) To hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect.

(transitive) To cause (something) to be suspended, as from a hook, hanger, hinges, or the like.

(transitive, law) To kill (someone) by suspension from the neck, usually as a form of execution or suicide.

(intransitive, law) To be executed by suspension by one's neck from a gallows, a tree, or other raised bar, attached by a rope tied into a noose.

(transitive, informal) (used in maledictions) To damn.

(intransitive, informal) To loiter; to hang around; to spend time idly.

(transitive) To exhibit (an object) by hanging.

(transitive) To apply (wallpaper or drywall to a wall).

(transitive) To decorate (something) with hanging objects.

(intransitive, figuratively) To remain persistently in one's thoughts.

(transitive) To prevent from reaching a decision, especially by refusing to join in a verdict that must be unanimous.

(intransitive, computing) To stop responding to manual input devices such as the keyboard and mouse.

(transitive, computing) To cause (a program or computer) to stop responding.

(transitive, chess) To cause (a piece) to become vulnerable to capture.

(intransitive, chess) To be vulnerable to capture.

(transitive, baseball, slang, of a pitcher) To throw a hittable off-speed pitch.

(transitive, figurative) To attach or cause to stick (a charge or accusation, etc.).

Examples


The lights hung from the ceiling.

On the dark-green walls hung a series of eight engravings, portraits of early Victorian belles, clad in lace and tarletan ball dresses, clipped from an old Book of Beauty. Mrs. Bunting was very fond of these pictures; she thought they gave the drawing-room a note of elegance and refinement.

The smoke hung in the room.

It was a couple of days after the crash, with the smell of burning still hanging in the air from the incinerated wreckage of Coach H, where 31 passengers lost their lives, when I visited the West London site.

The jockey claimed that the horse hung towards the outside

He hung his head in shame.

Hang those lights from the ceiling.

to hang a door

It is impossible but that offences will come: but woe unto him, through whom they come! It were better for him that a millstone were hanged about his neck, and he cast into the sea, than that he should offend one of these little ones.

The culprits were hanged from the nearest tree.

' […]  There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—'

As things go from bad to worse for Putin in his maniacal, murderous attack on Ukraine, he could end up like Milosevic, or worse. The court could change its rules and hang him, the way the Allies hanged Nazi war criminals at the end of World War II.

You will hang for this, my friend.

[H]e suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said "Bother!" and "Oh blow!" and also "Hang spring-cleaning!" and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.

Synonym: hang out

I didn't see anything, officer. I was just hanging.

He banned spearfishing wherever he could, started the first eco-moorings in the Caribbean, stopped others from coral- and shell-collecting, and had so much fun 24/7 that some unusually powerful people began to hang with him.

Let's hang this cute animal design in the nursery.

Let's hang the nursery with some new wallpaper.

Exploring, I found another short gallery running transversely to the first. This appeared to be devoted to minerals, and the sight of a block of sulphur set my mind running on gunpowder. But I could find no saltpeter; indeed no nitrates of any kind. Doubtless they had deliquesced ages ago. Yet the sulphur hung in my mind and set up a train of thinking.

One obstinate juror can hang a jury.

The computer has hung again. Not even pressing <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del> works.

When I push this button the program hangs.

The program has a bug that can hang the system.

If you move there, you'll hang your rook.

In this standard opening position White has to be careful because the pawn on e4 hangs.

McDougald then singled, and with a 3-2 count on Ellie Howard who was playing first base, Spahn hung a curve ball and Howard hit it over the wire fence in left field for a 4-4 tie.

There were no whisperings, even from his opponents, that he was no better than he ought to be. Because, there was nothing wrong on which to hang a charge. As an eloquent orator, he carried with him the firm support of a good name.

Papa had wanted to call me Beverly Mary; Mary after the Blessed Virgin. Mama said she wouldn't hang a name like Beverly Mary on a pet skunk.

Related words


synonyms

(be or remain suspended): be suspended, dangle

(float as if suspended): float, hover

(execute (someone) by suspension from the neck): lynch, string up; see also Thesaurus:kill by hanging

(be executed): go to the gallows, swing (informal), take a ride to Tyburn (archaic); see also Thesaurus:die by hanging

(loiter): hang about, hang around, loiter

(computing: stop responding): freeze, lock up

(cause (something) to be suspended): suspend

(hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect): drop, lower

(to place on a hook): hook, hook up

(to put a telephone handset back on a hook): hang up

(exhibit): exhibit, show

(apply (wallpaper to a wall)): put up

(decorate (something) with hanging objects): bedeck, deck, decorate

(computing: cause (a program or computer) to stop responding): freeze, lock up

(in chess: cause to become vulnerable to capture):

(in chess: be vulnerable to capture):

noun


hang (plural hangs)

The way in which something hangs.

A mass of hanging material.

A slackening of motion.

A sharp or steep declivity or slope.

(computing) An instance of ceasing to respond to input.

(informal, figuratively) A grip, understanding.

(colloquial)

Examples


This skirt has a nice hang.

They advanced in a crouch, dropping to their knees every few yards to pass under a hang of rock.

“I don't see the hang of so much talky-talky,” broke in Uncle Sam. “We've heard all that can be said about things, […]

We sometimes get system hangs.

I don't give a hang.

They don't seem to care a hang about the consequences.

My first day was a fun hang, but I didn't really do too much. Me and stupid Bob just hung around the casino looking at box and losing money.

So how can you set up a hang within a 90-minute time-frame for yourself? Be clear with your friends about timing from the get-go, so they, too, can decide if it's worth their time to even meet up.

He invited us over to his beautiful heritage home in downtown Toronto for a hang.

She might announce something to everyone that makes no sense or tells a story that rambles on and on and makes no point. But for some reason nobody seems to mind. We all just like to listen to The Airhead. She's a fun hang.

"I couldn't sit down and play a concert for you or really wow you on any instrument," Mr. Blanco said, estimating that "like 75 percent" of his success comes from being a good hang. "What I can do is meet an artist, know what type of song I think we should make and be their therapist, make everyone feel comfortable."

And maaaaaaaybe Superman would be a good hang, though I suspect that'd be a lot like hanging out with a youth pastor.

Etimology


From hang sangwich, Irish colloquial pronunciation of ham sandwich.

noun


hang (uncountable)

(Ireland, informal, derogatory) Cheap processed ham (cured pork), often made specially for sandwiches.

noun


hang

Alternative spelling of Hang (“musical instrument”)

Data provided by Wiktionary