Meanings
present singular third person cliffhangs · participle present cliffhanging · participle past cliffhung · past cliffhung · alternative cliff-hang
- figurativelyintransitiveTo be in suspense.
1 more example
With furtive references to Gnostic gospels and a cast of characters that includes a beautiful blond novice (with whom Luciano fancies himself in love), a corrupt council of cardinals, a syphilitic doge and the brutal Cappe Nere, or secret police, all abroad in Venice’s sinister maze of watery alleyways, the scene looks set for a cliffhanging thriller in the style of “The Da Vinci Code.”
2009 February 1, Clare Clark, “An Appetite for Venice”, in New York Times
Origin
Back-formation from cliffhanger.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
cliffhang. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliffhang
“cliffhang.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliffhang. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “cliffhang,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/cliffhang.
Source: cliffhang on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.