to hang
- verb
- /hæŋ/
- But the sheer magnitude of human suffering that hangs in the balance creates a particularly difficult situation.
- hang in the air
- hang in the balance
- hangs over their head
And so the so that was hanging over us for five weeks.
- And so the so that was hanging over us for five weeks.
- It just keeps hanging there like an unwanted guest, right.
- So there's this, there's this risk hanging over us.
- But some of it is, is still, is still hanging around, you know.
- We've started testing prisoners for cannabis, which hangs around in the body for, for weeks.
- There's a shadow hanging over me.
- Unless we found a way to defy the stigma that hung over their lives.
- And that kind of choking, hanging, visibly soaking in the air heat.
Examples
-
Maybe so, but millions of lives are hanging in the balance.
-
During the summer, when I forgot my key, I'd just hang out after school at JoAnn's.
Fiction book (1990) -
We supported each other and still hang out now that class is over.
Academic text (2008) -
You absolutely left us hanging for over a year.
-
OK, The Internet is hanging on your decision.
-
Of course, there can also be a tendency in education to hang onto everything.
Academic text (2015) -
There was no credible plan to ease the burden of debt hanging over so many businesses.
-
The mammoth case has been hanging around for three years since it was filed in 1996.
Academic text (1999) -
A heavy smell of tobacco and perfume hung like the red velvet drapes.
Fiction book (1990) -
The smell of death is hanging over large parts of this city.
Synonyms
To stay in a place longer than expected because you do not want to leave
To create a dark, worrying feeling that stays with people
Stay in the air so people can still smell or notice it
A strong feeling that people in a place notice and feel
Antonyms
Idioms
To be in a situation where the result is not decided, for example a job or game
- Informal
In a very dangerous situation where a small problem can cause everything to fail
- Archaic
To not have enough evidence to prove someone is guilty or to take action
- Archaic
To stop doing an activity, especially to stop playing music for good
Phrasal Verbs
- Informal
To relax completely and show your true feelings without holding back
Compounds
- Informal
An emotional problem that makes someone feel nervous or unable to act normally
A sport of flying a light aircraft without an engine launched from a hill or cliff
A light flying craft without a motor like a large kite that a person hangs under to fly
- Jargon
A position on rings where a gymnast hangs upside down with hips bent and legs straight
- Jargon
A position on rings or parallel bars with the body straight and arms at the sides
How Long
Surface Forms
Etymology
Hang also kept the picture of something left in the air, so when a smell or a mood 'hangs' over a place it means it stays there, like mist that does not move away.