hang

present singular third person hangs · participle present hanging · participle past hung · past hung · participle past hanged · past hanged · first person past singular hung · first person past singular hanged · archaic present second person singular hangest · past second person singular hung · past second person singular hanged · archaic past second person singular hungest · archaic past second person singular hangedst · present singular third person hangs · archaic present singular third person hangeth · past singular third person hung

1. intransitiveTo be or remain suspended.

   The lights hung from the ceiling.

   1 more example

   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.

   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

   Synonyms: be suspend, dangle

2. intransitiveTo float, as if suspended.

   The smoke hung in the room.

   1 more example

   It was a couple of days after the crash, with the smell of burning still hanging in the air from the incinerated wreckage of Coach H, where 31 passengers lost their lives, when I visited the West London site.

   2023 September 20, Nigel Harris, “Comment Special: And it's goodbye from me...”, in RAIL, number 992, page 3

   Synonyms: float, hover

3. intransitiveTo veer in one direction.

   The jockey claimed that the horse hung towards the outside[…]

   1979, Council of Law Reporting for New South Wales, New South Wales Law Reports (non-fiction), New South Wales: Council of Law Reporting for New South Wales, published 1979, page 16

4. intransitiveusuallyhobbiesTo rebound unexpectedly or unusually slowly, due to backward spin on the ball or imperfections of the ground.
5. transitiveTo hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect.

   He hung his head in shame.

   Synonyms: drop, lower

6. transitiveTo cause (something) to be suspended, as from a hook, hanger, hinges, or the like.

   to hang a door

   2 more examples

   Hang those lights from the ceiling.

   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.

   1611, The Holy Bible, […] (King James Version), London: […] Robert Barker, […], →OCLC, Luke 17:1-2

   Synonyms: suspend, hook, hook up, hang up

7. transitivelawTo kill (someone) by suspension from the neck, usually as a form of execution or suicide.

   The culprits were hanged from the nearest tree.

   2 more examples

   '[…] 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—'

   1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, in The China Governess: A Mystery, London: Chatto & Windus, →OCLC

   As things go from bad to worse for Putin in his maniacal, murderous attack on Ukraine, he could end up like Milosevic, or worse. The court could change its rules and hang him, the way the Allies hanged Nazi war criminals at the end of World War II.

   2022 March 10, Peter Lucas, “Lucas: Putin has blood on his hands and The Hague must make him pay”, in Boston Herald, archived from the original on 06 Aug 2022

   Synonyms: lynch

8. intransitivelawTo 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.

   Synonyms: go to the gallows

9. informaltransitive(used in maledictions) To damn.

   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?

   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

   1 more example

   [H]e suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said "Bother!" and "Oh blow!" and also "Hang spring-cleaning!" and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat.

   1908, Kenneth Grahame, The Wind in the Willows, London: Wordsworth Classics, published 1993, page 11

10. informalintransitiveTo loiter; to hang around; to spend time idly.

    I didn't see anything, officer. I was just hanging.

    1 more example

    He banned spearfishing wherever he could, started the first eco-moorings in the Caribbean, stopped others from coral- and shell-collecting, and had so much fun 24/7 that some unusually powerful people began to hang with him.

    2006, Scuba Diving, numbers 1-6, page 49

    Synonyms: hang out, hang about, hang around, loiter

11. transitiveTo exhibit (an object) by hanging.

    Synonyms: exhibit, show

12. transitiveTo apply (wallpaper or drywall to a wall).

    Let's hang this cute animal design in the nursery.

    Synonyms: put up

13. transitiveTo decorate (something) with hanging objects.

    Let's hang the nursery with some new wallpaper.

    Synonyms: bedeck, deck, decorate

14. figurativelyintransitiveTo remain persistently in one's thoughts.

    1 more example

    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 saltpetre; 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.

    1895 May 29, H[erbert] G[eorge] Wells, “The Palace of Green Porcelain”, in The Time Machine: An Invention, London: William Heinemann, →OCLC, page 110

15. transitiveTo 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. intransitivecomputingTo stop responding to manual input devices such as the keyboard and mouse.

    When I push this button the program hangs.

    1 more example

    The computer has hung again. Not even pressing <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del> works.

17. transitivecomputingTo cause (a program or computer) to stop responding.

    The program has a bug that can hang the system.

    Synonyms: freeze, freeze

18. transitiveboard gamesTo cause (a piece) to become vulnerable to capture.

    If you move there, you'll hang your rook.

19. intransitiveboard gamesTo be vulnerable to capture.

    In this standard opening position White has to be careful because the pawn on e4 hangs.

20. slangtransitiveball gamesTo throw a hittable off-speed pitch.

    McDougald then singled, and with a 3-2 count on Ellie Howard who was playing first base, Spahn hung a curve ball and Howard hit it over the wire fence in left field for a 4-4 tie.

    2010, Peter Golenbock, Dynasty: The New York Yankees, 1949-1964, →ISBN, page 409

21. figurativelytransitiveTo attach or cause to stick (a charge or accusation, etc.).

    Papa had wanted to call me Beverly Mary; Mary after the Blessed Virgin. Mama said she wouldn't hang a name like Beverly Mary on a pet skunk.

    1989, Faith Sullivan, The Cape Ann, Penguin, published 1989, →ISBN, page 2

    1 more example

    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.

    1848, The American Pulpit, volume 3, Samuel Chism, published 1848, page 120

plural hangs

1. The way in which something hangs.

   This skirt has a nice hang.

2. A mass of hanging material.

   They advanced in a crouch, dropping to their knees every few yards to pass under a hang of rock.

   2014, Matthew Jobin, The Nethergrim, volume 1

   1 more example

   “I don't see the hang of so much talky-talky,” broke in Uncle Sam. “We've heard all that can be said about things, […]

   1911, Alexander MacDonald, The Invisible Island: A Story of the Far North of Queensland, page 105

3. A slackening of motion.
4. A sharp or steep declivity or slope.
5. computingAn instance of ceasing to respond to input.

   We sometimes get system hangs.

6. figurativelyinformalA grip, understanding.

   On the fatal evening I duly made my way to the theatre—a little late, so as to take my seat unobserved. After I had got the general hang I glanced up occasionally until I caught Stephanie's eye […]

   1914, Ernest Bramah [pseudonym; Ernest Brammah Smith], Max Carrados

7. colloquialA hangout.

   He invited us over to his beautiful heritage home in downtown Toronto for a hang.

   2021 October 27, Danielle McTaggart (quoted), Chelsea Brimstin, “Dear Rouge share sentimental video for delicate new single 'Life Goes By And I Can’t Keep Up'”, in Indie88, archived from the original on 21 Oct 2022

   3 more examples

   My first day was a fun hang, but I didn't really do too much. Me and stupid Bob just hung around the casino looking at box and losing money.

   2008, Jim Norton, Happy Endings, Gallery Books, →ISBN, page 25

   So how can you set up a hang within a 90-minute time-frame for yourself? Be clear with your friends about timing from the get-go, so they, too, can decide if it's worth their time to even meet up.

   2021 April 14, Jen Kirsch, “A Good Hang Lasts No More Than 90 Minutes”, in InStyle, archived from the original on 21 Oct 2022

   Then again, a live stream isn’t supposed to be a tight, scripted lecture. It’s supposed to be a good hang.

   2025 March 17, Andrew Marantz, “The Battle for the Bros”, in The New Yorker, →ISSN

8. colloquialA person that someone hangs out with.

   And maaaaaaaybe Superman would be a good hang, though I suspect that'd be a lot like hanging out with a youth pastor.

   2019, Shea Serrano, Arturo Torres, Movies (And Other Things), Grand Central Publishing, →ISBN

   2 more examples

   She might announce something to everyone that makes no sense or tells a story that rambles on and on and makes no point. But for some reason nobody seems to mind. We all just like to listen to The Airhead. She's a fun hang.

   2004, Relient K, Mark Nichols, The Complex Infrastructure Known as the Female Mind, Thomas Nelson, →ISBN, page 76

   "I couldn't sit down and play a concert for you or really wow you on any instrument," Mr. Blanco said, estimating that "like 75 percent" of his success comes from being a good hang. "What I can do is meet an artist, know what type of song I think we should make and be their therapist, make everyone feel comfortable."

   2018 July 18, Joe Coscarelli, “How Benny Blanco Became the Most Popular Oddball in Pop Music”, in New York Times

1. IrelandderogatoryinformaluncountableCheap processed ham (cured pork), often made specially for sandwiches.

1. alternativeAlternative spelling of Hang (“musical instrument”).

plural hangs

1. colloquialThe smallest amount of concern or consideration; a damn.

   I don't give a hang.

   1 more example

   They don't seem to care a hang about the consequences.

plural Hangs · plural Hanghang

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.

   Philip plays a Hang drum—a unique instrument that looks a little like two woks welded together.

   2009, Steven J. L. Croft, Ian Mobsby, editors, Fresh Expressions in the Sacramental Tradition, Hymns Ancient and Modern Ltd, →ISBN, page 84

   Synonyms: handpan