English
hang
see also: Hang
Pronunciation
  • enPR: hăng, IPA: /hæŋ/
    • (America, Canada) IPA: [heɪŋ]
Etymology 1

From Middle English hangen, hongen, from a fusion of Old English hōn and hangian, from Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han and *hangēn; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja and hanga; all from Proto-Germanic *hanhaną, *hangāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenk-.

See also Dutch hangen, Low German hangen and hängen, German hängen, Norwegian Bokmål henge, Norwegian Nynorsk henga; also Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽, Hittite 𒂵𒀀𒀭𒂵, Sanskrit शङ्कते, Latin cunctor.

Verb

hang (hangs, present participle hanging; simple past and past participle hung)

  1. (intransitive) To be or remain suspended.
    The lights hung from the ceiling.
    • 1913, Mrs. [Marie] Belloc Lowndes, chapter II, in The Lodger, London: Methuen, →OCLC ↗; republished in Novels of Mystery: The Lodger; The Story of Ivy; What Really Happened, New York, N.Y.: Longmans, Green and Co., […], [1933], →OCLC ↗, page 0111 ↗:
      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.
  2. (intransitive) To float, as if suspended.
    The smoke hung in the room.
  3. (intransitive) To veer in one direction.
    • 1979, New South Wales law reports, page 16:
      The jockey claimed that the horse hung towards the outside
  4. (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.
  5. (transitive) To hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect.
    He hung his head in shame.
  6. (transitive) To cause (something) to be suspended, as from a hook, hanger, hinges or the like.
    Hang those lights from the ceiling.
    to hang a door
    • 1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC ↗, Luke 17:1-2 ↗:
      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.
  7. (transitive, legal) To kill (someone) by suspension from the neck, usually as a form of execution or suicide.
    The culprits were hanged from the nearest tree.
    • 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC ↗:
      ' […]  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—'
  8. (intransitive, legal) 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.
    You will hang for this, my friend.
  9. (transitive, informal) (used in maledictions) To damn.
    • c. 1921 (date written), Karel Čapek, translated by Paul Selver, R.U.R. (Rossum's Universal Robots): A Fantastic Melodrama […], Garden City, N.Y.: Doubleday, Page & Company, published 1923, →OCLC ↗, Act 1:
      Helena

      That depends on how much of the factory you show me.

      Domin

      Oh, hang the factory. Oh, no, no, you shall see everything, Miss Glory. Indeed you shall. Won't you sit down?
  10. (intransitive, informal) To loiter; to hang around; to spend time idly.
    Synonyms: hang out
    I didn't see anything, officer. I was just hanging.
  11. (transitive) To exhibit (an object) by hanging.
  12. (transitive) To apply (wallpaper or drywall to a wall).
    Let's hang this cute animal design in the nursery.
  13. (transitive) To decorate (something) with hanging objects.
    Let's hang the nursery with some new wallpaper.
  14. (intransitive, figuratively) To remain persistently in one's thoughts.
    • 1895 May 7, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, chapter X, in The Time Machine: An Invention, New York, N.Y.: Henry Holt and Company, →OCLC ↗:
      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.
  15. (transitive) To prevent from reaching a decision, especially by refusing to join in a verdict that must be unanimous.
    One obstinate juror can hang a jury.
  16. (intransitive, computing) To stop responding to manual input devices such as the keyboard and mouse.
    The computer has hung again. Not even pressing ++ works.
    When I push this button the program hangs.
  17. (transitive, computing) To cause (a program or computer) to stop responding.
    The program has a bug that can hang the system.
  18. (transitive, chess) To cause (a piece) to become vulnerable to capture.
    If you move there, you'll hang your rook.
  19. (intransitive, chess) To be vulnerable to capture.
    In this standard opening position White has to be careful because the pawn on e4 hangs.
  20. (transitive, baseball, slang, of a pitcher) To throw a hittable off-speed pitch.
  21. (transitive, figurative) To attach or cause to stick (a charge or accusation, etc.).
    • 1848, The American Pulpit, volume 3, page 120:
      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.
Synonyms Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Translations Noun

hang (plural hangs)

  1. The way in which something hangs.
    This skirt has a nice hang.
  2. A mass of hanging material.
  3. A slackening of motion.
  4. A sharp or steep declivity or slope.
  5. (computing) An instance of ceasing to respond to input.
    We sometimes get system hangs.
  6. (informal, figuratively) A grip, understanding.
  7. (colloquial)
    1. The smallest amount of concern or consideration; a damn.
      I don't give a hang.
      They don't seem to care a hang about the consequences.
    2. A hangout.
    3. A person that someone hangs out with.
Etymology 2

From hang sangwich, Irish colloquial pronunciation of ham sandwich.

Noun

hang (uncountable)

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

hang

  1. Alternative spelling of Hang
Hang
Etymology

Coined as a trademark, from Swiss German Hang, c.

Pronunciation
  • (British) IPA: /haŋ/
Noun

hang (plural hangs)

  1. A percussion instrument invented and built by PANArt Hangbau AG, somewhat resembling a steelpan, consisting of two metal half shells with tuned notes on the top side that produces a mellow and ethereal sound.
    Synonyms: handpan


This text is extracted from the Wiktionary and it is available under the CC BY-SA 3.0 license | Terms and conditions | Privacy policy 0.004
Offline English dictionary