hang-on

[ hang-on, -awn ]

noun
  1. something easily attached to or mounted on another surface or object, as a turbocharger or transceiver in an automobile, a unit suspendable from shelving, or a portable soap dish.

adjective
  1. pertaining to or denoting such an attachment: A clumsy hang-on unit supplied the air conditioning.

Origin of hang-on

1
Noun, adj. use of verb phrase hang on

Words Nearby hang-on

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2024

How to use hang-on in a sentence

  • The small black syce-and heaven knows how HE had managed to hang on-darted to the heads of the leading mules.

    The Land of Footprints | Stewart Edward White
  • Says it's nothin' but just grit and hang-on that keeps him alive.

    Fair Harbor | Joseph Crosby Lincoln

British Dictionary definitions for hang on

hang on

verb(intr)
  1. (adverb) to continue or persist in an activity, esp with effort or difficulty: hang on at your present job until you can get another

  2. (adverb) to cling, grasp, or hold: she hangs on to her mother's arm

  1. (preposition) to be conditioned or contingent on; depend on: everything hangs on this business deal

  2. Also: hang onto, hang upon (preposition) to listen attentively to: she hung on his every word

  3. (adverb) informal to wait or remain: hang on for a few minutes

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Other Idioms and Phrases with hang-on

hang-on

hang on to. Cling tightly to something, retain, as in Hang on to those papers before they blow away. [Mid-1800s] Also see hang on to your hat.

The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary Copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.