to furnish or decorate with something suspended: to hang a room with pictures.
8.
to fasten into position; fix at a proper angle: to hang a scythe.
9.
to fasten or attach (wallpaper, pictures, etc.) to a wall: to hang pictures in a room.
10.
to suspend (something) in front of anything: to hang curtains on a window.
11.
Fine Arts.
a.
to exhibit (a painting or group of paintings): The gallery hung his paintings in a small corner.
b.
to put the paintings of (an art exhibition) on the wall of a gallery: They hung the show that morning.
12.
to attach or annex as an addition: to hang a rider on a bill.
13.
to attach (a door or the like) to its frame by means of hinges.
14.
to make (an idea, form, etc.) dependent on a situation, structure, concept, or the like, usually derived from another source: He hung the meaning of his puns on the current political scene.
15.
(of a juror) to keep (a jury) from rendering a verdict by refusing to agree with the others.
16.
Informal. to cause (a nickname, epithet, etc.) to become associated with a person: Friends hung that nickname on him.
17.
Slang. to hit with (a fist, blow, punch, etc.): He hung a left on his opponent's jaw.
18.
Baseball. to throw (a pitch) so that it fails to break, as a curve.
19.
Nautical. to steady (a boat) in one place against a wind or current by thrusting a pole or the like into the bottom under the boat and allowing the wind or current to push the boat side-on against the pole.
20.
(used in mild curses and emphatic expressions, often as a euphemism for damn): I'll be hanged if I do. Hang it all!
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a calculus or concretion found in the stomach or intestines of certain animals, esp. ruminants, formerly reputed to be an effective remedy for poison.
a printed punctuation mark (‽), available only in some typefaces, designed to combine the question mark (?) and the exclamation point (!), indicating a mixture of query and interjection, as after a rhetorical question.
a scrap or morsel of food left at a meal.
a screen or mat covered with a dark material for shielding a camera lens from excess light or glare.
Informal. the precise manner of doing, using, etc., something; knack: to get the hang of a tool.
38.
Informal. meaning or thought: to get the hang of a subject.
39.
Nautical.
a.
loss of way due to adverse wind or current.
b.
a rake, as of a mast.
40.
the least degree of care, concern, etc. (used in mild curses and emphatic expressions as a euphemism for damn): He doesn't give a hang about those things.
Verb phrases
41.
hang around/about, Informal.
a.
to spend time in a certain place or in certain company: He hangs around with an older crowd.
b.
to linger about; loiter: They had stopped working and were just hanging around to talk.
42.
hang back,
a.
to be reluctant to proceed or move forward: The older pupils went straight to the podium, but the younger ones hung back out of shyness.
b.
to refrain from taking action; hesitate: A forward pass would have been the best call, but the quarterback hung back because his last pass had been intercepted.
43.
hang in, Slang. to persevere: She has managed to hang in despite years of bad luck. Also, hang in there.
44.
hang on,
a.
to hold fast; cling to.
b.
to continue with effort; persevere: If you can hang on for a month longer, you will be eligible for the bonus.
c.
to be sustained to the point of danger, tedium, etc.: coughs that hang on for months.
d.
to keep a telephone line open: Hang on, I'll see if she's here.
e.
to wait briefly; keep calm.
45.
hang out,
a.
to lean or be suspended through an opening.
b.
Informal. to frequent a particular place, especially in idling away one's free time: to hang out in a bar.
c.
Informal. to loiter in public places: nothing to do on Saturday night but hang out.
d.
Informal. to consort or appear in public with: Who's she been hanging out with?
e.
Slang. to calm down: Hang out, Mom, I'm OK.
f.
to wait, especially briefly: Hang out a minute while I get my backpack.
g.
to suspend in open view; display: to hang out the flag.
to remain to be settled; be postponed: They will probably let the final decision hang over until next year.
b.
to be imminent or foreboding; threaten: Economic ruin hangs over the town.
47.
hang up,
a.
to suspend by placing on a hook, peg, or hanger.
b.
to cause or encounter delay; suspend or slow the progress of: The accident hung up the traffic for several hours.
c.
to break a telephone connection by replacing the receiver on the hook: She received an anonymous call, but the party hung up when she threatened to call the police.
d.
to cause a hang-up or hang-ups in: The experience hung her up for years.
hang ten, to ride a surfboard with the weight of the body as far forward as possible and the toes of both feet curled over the front edge of the surfboard.
56.
hang together,
a.
to be loyal to one another; remain united: “We must indeed all hang together, or, most assuredly, we shall all hang separately.”
b.
to cohere: This pancake batter doesn't hang together.
c.
to be logical or consistent: His version of the story does not hang together.
57.
hang tough, Slang. to remain unyielding, stubborn, or inflexible: He's hanging tough and won't change his mind.
58.
let it all hang out, Slang.
a.
to be completely candid in expressing one's feelings, opinions, etc.: She's never been one to let it all hang out.
Origin: before 900; fusion of 3 verbs: (1) Middle English, Old English hōn to hang (transitive), cognate with Gothic hāhan, orig. *haghan; (2) Middle English hang(i)en,Old English hangian to hang (intransitive), cognate with German hangen; (3) Middle English henge < Old Norse hengja (transitive), cognate with German hängen to hang
Related forms
hang·a·ble, adjective
hang·a·bil·i·ty, noun
re·hang, verb (used with object), re·hung or re·hanged, re·hang·ing.
un·der·hang, verb, un·der·hung, un·der·hang·ing.
un·hanged, adjective
Can be confused:1. hang, lynch (see synonym and usage notes at the current entry); 2. hanged, hung.
Synonyms 4.Hang,lynch have in common the meaning of “to put to death,” but lynching is not always by hanging. Hang, in the sense of execute, is in accordance with a legal sentence, the method of execution being to suspend by the neck until dead. To lynch, however, implies the summary putting to death, by any method, of someone charged with a flagrant offense (though guilt may not have been proved). Lynching is done by private persons, usually a mob, without legal authority. 26. depend, rely, rest, hinge.
Usage note Hang has two forms for the past tense and past participle, hanged and hung. The historically older form hanged is now used exclusively in the sense of causing or putting to death: He was sentenced to be hanged by the neck until dead. In the sense of legal execution, hung is also quite common and is standard in all types of speech and writing except in legal documents. EXPANDWhen legal execution is not meant, hung has become the more frequent form: The prisoner hung himself in his cell. COLLAPSE
a fusion of O.E. hon "suspend" (transitive, class VII strong verb; past tense heng, pp. hangen), and O.E. hangian (weak, intransitive, past tense hangode) "be suspended;" also probably influenced by O.N. hengja "suspend," and hanga "be suspended." All from P.Gmc. *khang-, from PIE *keng- "to waver,
be in suspense" (cf. Goth. hahan, Hittite gang- "to hang," Skt. sankate "wavers," L. cunctari "to delay;" see also second element in Stonehenge). Hung emerged as pp. 16c. in northern England dial., and hanged endured only in legal language (which tends to be conservative) and metaphors extended from it (I'll be hanged). Teen slang sense of "spend time" first recorded 1951; hang around "idle, loiter" is from 1830, and hang out (v.) is from 1844. Hang fire (1781) was originally used of guns that were slow in communicating the fire through the vent to the charge. Hanger-on is from 1549. To get the hang of (something) "understand" is from 1845. Hang-up "psychological fixation" is first attested 1959. To let it all hang out "be relaxed and uninhibited" is from 1970.
in. to loiter; to waste away time doing nothing. : Don't just hang around. Get busy with something.
Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions by Richard A. Spears.Fourth Edition. Copyright 2007. Published by McGraw Hill.
Cite This Source
American Heritage
Idioms & Phrases
hang over
Remain suspended or unsettled, as in They plan to let the vote hang over until the next session. This usage alludes to something suspended or floating in the air. [c. 1200[
Also, hang over one's head. Threaten or be imminent, as in I've got that test hanging over me, or A stiff fine is hanging over his head. [Mid-1500s] Also see hang by a thread.