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dangle
6 dictionary results for: dangle
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1) - Cite This Source - Share This
dan·gle       [dang-guhl] Pronunciation Key verb, -gled, -gling, noun
–verb (used without object)
1.to hang loosely, esp. with a jerking or swaying motion: The rope dangled in the breeze.
2.to hang around or follow a person, as if seeking favor or attention.
3.Grammar. to occur as a modifier without a head or as a participle without an implied subject, as leaving the tunnel in The daylight was blinding, leaving the tunnel.
–verb (used with object)
4.to cause to dangle; hold or carry swaying loosely.
5.to offer as an inducement.
–noun
6.the act of dangling.
7.something that dangles.
—Idiom
8.keep someone dangling, to keep someone in a state of uncertainty.
[Origin: 1580–90; expressive word akin to Norw, Sw dangla, Dan dangle dangle]

—Related forms
dangler, noun
dan·gling·ly, adverb

—Synonyms 1. swing, sway, flap.
Dictionary.com Unabridged (v 1.1)
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2006.
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American Heritage Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dan·gle       (dāng'gəl)  Pronunciation Key 
v.   dan·gled, dan·gling, dan·gles

v.   intr.
  1. To hang loosely and swing or sway to and fro.
  2. To be a hanger-on.

v.   tr.
  1. To cause to hang loosely or swing.
  2. To cause (one's expectations or hopes) to hang uncertainly or remain unresolved.

n.  
  1. The act or an instance of dangling.
  2. Something dangled.


[Perhaps from Danish dangle or Swedish dangla.]

dan'gler n., dan'gly adj.
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The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2006 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Online Etymology Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This
dangle 
c.1590, probably from Scandinavian (cf. Dan. dangle, Norw. dangla), perhaps via N.Fris. dangeln.

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2001 Douglas Harper
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WordNet - Cite This Source - Share This
dangle

verb
1. hang freely; "the ornaments dangled from the tree"; "The light dropped from the ceiling" 
2. cause to dangle or hang freely; "He dangled the ornaments from the Christmas tree" 

WordNet® 3.0, © 2006 by Princeton University.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dangle

Dan"gle\ (d[a^][ng]"g'l), v. i. [imp. & p. p. Dangled; p. pr. & vb. n. Dangling.] [Akin to Dan. dangle, dial. Sw. dangla, Dan. dingle, Sw. dingla, Icel. dingla; perh. from E. ding.] To hang loosely, or with a swinging or jerking motion.

He'd rather on a gibbet dangle Than miss his dear delight, to wrangle. --Hudibras.

From her lifted hand Dangled a length of ribbon. --Tennyson.

To dangle about or after, to hang upon importunately; to court the favor of; to beset.

The Presbyterians, and other fanatics that dangle after them, are well inclined to pull down the present establishment. --Swift.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary - Cite This Source - Share This

Dangle

Dan"gle\, v. t. To cause to dangle; to swing, as something suspended loosely; as, to dangle the feet.

And the bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume. --Sir W. Scott.

Webster's Revised Unabridged Dictionary, © 1996, 1998 MICRA, Inc.
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