hang
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English[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Etymology 1[edit]
A fusion of Old English hōn (“to hang, be hanging”) [intrans.] and hangian (“to hang, cause to hang”) [trans.]; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja (“suspend”) and hanga (“be suspended”); all from Proto-Germanic *hanhaną (compare Dutch hangen, German hängen), from Proto-Indo-European *keng- (“to waver, be in suspense”) (compare Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (hāhan), Hittite gang- (“to hang”), Sanskrit sankate (“wavers”), Latin cunctari (“to delay”)) and Albanian çengë (“a hook”).
Verb[edit]
hang (third-person singular simple present hangs, present participle hanging, simple past and past participle hung or hanged (mostly archaic and legal – see usage))
- (intransitive) To be or remain suspended.
- The lights hung from the ceiling.
- (intransitive) To float, as if suspended.
- The smoke hung in the room.
- (transitive) To hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect.
- He hung his head in shame.
- (transitive) To cause (something) to be suspended, as from a hook, hanger, or the like.
- Hang those lights from the ceiling.
- (transitive, law) To execute (someone) by suspension from the neck.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, The China Governess[1]:
- ‘[…] 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—’
- The culprits were hanged from the nearest tree.
- 1963, Margery Allingham, chapter 3, The China Governess[1]:
- (intransitive, law) 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.
- (intransitive, informal) To loiter, hang around, to spend time idly.
- Are you busy, or can you hang with me?
- I didn't see anything, officer. I was just hanging.
- (transitive) To exhibit (an object).
- (transitive) To apply (wallpaper or drywall to a wall).
- Let's hang this cute animal design in the nursery
- (transitive) To decorate (something) with hanging objects.
- (intransitive, figuratively) This word needs a definition. Please help out and add a definition, then remove the text
{{rfdef}}.- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- 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. As for the rest of the contents of that place, though on the whole they were the best preserved of all I saw—I had little interest. I am no specialist in mineralogy, and I soon went on down a very ruinous aisle running parallel to the first hall I had entered.
- 1895, H. G. Wells, The Time Machine Chapter X
- (intransitive, computing) To stop responding to manual input devices such as keyboard or mouse.
- The computer has hung again. Not even pressing <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del> works.
- When I push this button the program hangs.
- (transitive, computing) To cause (a program or computer) to stop responding.
- The program has a bug that can hang the system.
- (transitive, chess) To cause (a piece) to become vulnerable to capture.
- If you move there, you'll hang your queen rook.
- (intransitive, chess) To be vulnerable to capture.
- In this standard opening position White has to be careful because the pawn on e4 hangs.
Synonyms[edit]
- (be or remain suspended): be suspended, dangle
- (float as if suspended): float, hover
- (execute (someone) by suspension from the neck): lynch, string up
- (be executed): go to the gallows, swing (informal)
- (loiter): hang about, hang around, loiter
- (computing: stop responding): freeze, lock up
- (cause (something) to be suspended): suspend
- (hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect): drop, lower
- (to place on a hook): hook, hook up
- (exhibit): exhibit, show
- (apply (wallpaper to a wall)): put up
- (decorate (something) with hanging objects): bedeck, deck, decorate
- (computing: cause (a program or computer) to stop responding): freeze, lock up
- (in chess: cause to become vulnerable to capture):
- (in chess: be vulnerable to capture):
Usage notes[edit]
- Formerly, at least through the 16th century, the past tense of hang was hanged. This form is retained for the legal senses "to be executed by suspension from the neck" and "to execute by suspension from the neck" and hung for all other meanings. However, this rule is not uniformly understood or observed. Hung is sometimes substituted for hanged, which would be considered inappropriate in legal or other formal writing (for the applicable senses only) or, more rarely, vice versa. See also the etymology – in Old English there were separate words for transitive (whence "hanged") and intransitive (whence "hung").
- "Hanged" may sometimes be used as the simple past tense, but "hung" could be taken as the past participle of "hang", though there is no good rationale for this distinction.
Derived terms[edit]
Translations[edit]
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- The translations below need to be checked and inserted above into the appropriate translation tables, removing any numbers. Numbers do not necessarily match those in definitions. See instructions at Help:How to check translations.
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Noun[edit]
- The way in which something hangs.
- This skirt has a nice hang.
- (figuratively) A grip, understanding
- He got the hang of it after only two demonstrations
- (computing) An instance of ceasing to respond to input devices.
- We sometimes get system hangs.
- (music) An idiophone somewhat similar to a steelpan
Derived terms[edit]
Etymology 2[edit]
From hang sangwich, Irish colloquial pronunciation of ham sandwich.
Noun[edit]
hang (uncountable)
- (Ireland, informal, derogatory) Cheap, processed ham (cured pork), often made specially for sandwiches.
Danish[edit]
Noun[edit]
hang
- A slope
Dutch[edit]
Pronunciation[edit]
Noun[edit]
hang c (plural hangen, diminutive hangetje)
- A support for hanging objects, such as a nail for a picture frame
- A place to dry or smoke produce
- A tendency, knack
Related terms[edit]
Verb[edit]
hang
Hungarian[edit]
Etymology[edit]
From an unattested stem with the suffix -g.
Pronunciation[edit]
- IPA: /ˈhɒŋɡ/
Noun[edit]
hang (plural hangok)
Declension[edit]
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declension of hang
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Derived terms[edit]
- Compound words
Italian[edit]
Noun[edit]
hang m (invariable)
Mandarin[edit]
Romanization[edit]
hang
- Nonstandard spelling of hāng.
- Nonstandard spelling of háng.
- Nonstandard spelling of hǎng.
- Nonstandard spelling of hàng.
Usage notes[edit]
English transcriptions of Chinese speech often fail to distinguish between the critical tonal differences employed in the Chinese language, using words such as this one without the appropriate indication of tone.
- English terms derived from Old English
- English terms derived from Proto-Germanic
- English terms derived from Proto-Indo-European
- English verbs
- en:Law
- English informal terms
- en:Computing
- en:Chess
- English nouns
- English countable nouns
- en:Musical instruments
- English uncountable nouns
- Irish English
- English derogatory terms
- English ergative verbs
- English irregular verbs
- Danish nouns
- Dutch nouns
- Dutch verb forms
- Hungarian nouns suffixed with -g
- Hungarian nouns
- hu:Sound
- Italian nouns
- it:Musical instruments
- Mandarin nonstandard forms
- Mandarin pinyin