Library / English Dictionary

HANG

Pronunciation (US):

(GB):

Irregular inflected form: hung   

 I. (noun) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

A gymnastic exercise performed on the rings or horizontal bar or parallel bars when the gymnast's weight is supported by the arms

Classified under:

Nouns denoting acts or actions

Hypernyms ("hang" is a kind of...):

gymnastic exercise ((gymnastics) an exercise designed to develop and display strength and agility and balance (usually performed with or on some gymnastic apparatus))

Hyponyms (each of the following is a kind of "hang"):

bent hang (a hang performed with the elbows bent)

inverted hang (a hang performed on the rings with the body upside down)

lever hang (a hang performed on the rings with the body stationary in a horizontal position)

reverse hang (a hang with the arms extended in back)

straight hang (a hang performed on the rings or parallel bars with the body erect and the arms at the sides)

Sense 2

Meaning:

The way a garment hangs

Example:

he adjusted the hang of his coat

Classified under:

Nouns denoting attributes of people and objects

Hypernyms ("hang" is a kind of...):

fit (the manner in which something fits)

Derivation:

hang (fall or flow in a certain way)

Sense 3

Meaning:

A special way of doing something

Example:

he couldn't get the hang of it

Synonyms:

bent; hang; knack

Classified under:

Nouns denoting cognitive processes and contents

Hypernyms ("hang" is a kind of...):

endowment; gift; natural endowment; talent (natural abilities or qualities)

 II. (verb) 

Sense 1

Meaning:

Suspend (meat) in order to get a gamey taste

Example:

hang the venison for a few days

Classified under:

Verbs of size, temperature change, intensifying, etc.

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

decompose; molder; moulder; rot (break down)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Something ----s something

Sense 2

Meaning:

Hold on tightly or tenaciously

Example:

The child clung to his mother's apron

Synonyms:

cling; hang

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

grasp; hold on (hold firmly)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Something ----s something
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 3

Meaning:

Cause to be hanging or suspended

Example:

Hang that picture on the wall

Synonyms:

hang; hang up

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Cause:

hang (be suspended or hanging)

Verb group:

hang (be suspended or hanging)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hang"):

suspend (hang freely)

sling (hang loosely or freely; let swing)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody
Somebody ----s somebody PP
Somebody ----s something PP

Sentence example:

They hang the lights from the ceiling

Derivation:

hanger (anything from which something can be hung)

hanger (a worker who hangs something)

hanging (decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window)

Sense 4

Meaning:

Place in position as by a hinge so as to allow free movement in one direction

Example:

hang a door

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

fasten; fix; secure (cause to be firmly attached)

Verb group:

hang (be placed in position as by a hinge)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sentence example:

They want to hang the doors

Sense 5

Meaning:

Be placed in position as by a hinge

Example:

This cabinet door doesn't hang right!

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Verb group:

hang (place in position as by a hinge so as to allow free movement in one direction)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sentence example:

The doors hang

Sense 6

Meaning:

Be suspended or poised

Example:

Heavy fog hung over the valley

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sentence examples:

Some big birds hang in the tree

There hang some big birds in the tree

Derivation:

hanging (the act of suspending something (hanging it from above so it moves freely))

Sense 7

Meaning:

Be suspended or hanging

Example:

The flag hung on the wall

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Verb group:

hang; hang up (cause to be hanging or suspended)

hang (be exhibited)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hang"):

beetle; overhang (be suspended over or hang over)

dangle; drop; swing (hang freely)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Sentence example:

The lights hang from the ceiling

Derivation:

hanging (decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window)

Sense 8

Meaning:

Fall or flow in a certain way

Example:

Her long black hair flowed down her back

Synonyms:

fall; flow; hang

Classified under:

Verbs of touching, hitting, tying, digging

Sentence frame:

Something ----s Adjective/Noun

Derivation:

hang (the way a garment hangs)

Sense 9

Meaning:

Decorate or furnish with something suspended

Example:

Hang wallpaper

Classified under:

Verbs of sewing, baking, painting, performing

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

adorn; beautify; decorate; embellish; grace; ornament (make more attractive by adding ornament, colour, etc.)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Derivation:

hanging (decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window)

Sense 10

Meaning:

Let drop or droop

Example:

Hang one's head in shame

Classified under:

Verbs of walking, flying, swimming

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

drop (let fall to the ground)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s something

Sense 11

Meaning:

Give heed (to)

Example:

They attended to everything he said

Synonyms:

advert; attend; give ear; hang; pay heed

Classified under:

Verbs of seeing, hearing, feeling

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

listen (hear with intention)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hang"):

fixate (pay attention to exclusively and obsessively)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s
Somebody ----s PP

Sense 12

Meaning:

Kill by hanging

Example:

The murderer was hanged on Friday

Synonyms:

hang; string up

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

execute; put to death (kill as a means of socially sanctioned punishment)

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hang"):

halter (hang with a halter)

gibbet (hang on an execution instrument)

Sentence frame:

Somebody ----s somebody

Sentence example:

They want to hang the prisoners

Derivation:

hanging (a form of capital punishment; victim is suspended by the neck from a gallows or gibbet until dead)

Sense 13

Meaning:

Prevent from reaching a verdict, of a jury

Classified under:

Verbs of political and social activities and events

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

block; blockade; embarrass; hinder; obstruct; stymie; stymy (hinder or prevent the progress or accomplishment of)

Sentence frames:

Somebody ----s something
Somebody ----s somebody

Sense 14

Meaning:

Be menacing, burdensome, or oppressive

Example:

The cloud of suspicion hangs over her

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Hypernyms (to "hang" is one way to...):

be (have the quality of being; (copula, used with an adjective or a predicate noun))

Troponyms (each of the following is one way to "hang"):

brood; bulk large; hover; loom (hang over, as of something threatening, dark, or menacing)

Sentence frame:

Something is ----ing PP

Sense 15

Meaning:

Be exhibited

Example:

Picasso hangs in this new wing of the museum

Classified under:

Verbs of being, having, spatial relations

Verb group:

hang (be suspended or hanging)

Sentence frames:

Something ----s
Somebody ----s
Something is ----ing PP
Somebody ----s PP

Credits

 Context examples: 

It was the group-will that Dennin should be hanged.

(Love of Life and Other Stories, by Jack London)

“Que dites vous? To hang, le mort du chien! To hang!”

(The White Company, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

During all my childhood he was only a name to me, and a face in a miniature hung round my mother’s neck.

(Rodney Stone, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The large oak-panelled, book-lined room had a curtain hung in the further corner.

(His Last Bow, by Sir Arthur Conan Doyle)

The ears are hanging and tight to the cheeks.

(Norfolk Terrier, NCI Thesaurus)

The Maltese is a small, hardy companion dog with a thick, heavy coat hanging straight to the ground on each side of a center part line.

(Maltese, NCI Thesaurus)

The soft flap of tissue that hangs down at the back of the mouth (at the edge of the soft palate).

(Palatine uvula, NCI Dictionary)

The most violent storm hung exactly north of the town, over the part of the lake which lies between the promontory of Belrive and the village of Copêt.

(Frankenstein, by Mary Wollstonecraft Shelley)

A structural device designed to hang an intravenous solution bag.

(Intravenous Pole Device Component, NCI Thesaurus)

A large fold of peritoneum that hangs down from the stomach, and extends from the stomach to the posterior abdominal wall after associating with the transverse colon.

(Greater Omentum, NCI Thesaurus)