to hang on every word
3
3.9
- idiom
:
escuchar atentamente
- In the lecture, the students were hanging on every word the professor spoke.
- hanging on every word I say
Like I'm, I'm hanging on every word.
- Like I'm, I'm hanging on every word.
Examples
-
Nathan was leaning forward, hanging on every word.
Fiction book (1990) -
The younger boys hung on every word as Walter told them about his latest conquests.
Academic text (2003) -
If someone told her such a story, she would hang on every word.
Fiction book (2001) -
Yet something about the Christmas story had them hanging on every word.
-
Folks were hanging on every word.
-
You have to have the audience hanging on every word.
Blog text (21) -
From the looks on their faces, they were hanging on every word.
Fiction book (1994) -
I've never seen a crowd of people hang on every word of a man before.
Blog text (7) -
You're hanging on every word I say.
-
Indeed, the national media hang on every word spoken by UC President Richard Atkinson about the subject.
Academic text (2001)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
Pay attention to sounds or speech to hear and understand them
143
7.5
To listen very closely to every word someone says
Antonyms
How Attentive
3
3.9
- Informal
27
4.4
∞
1.6
- Archaic
1
6.2
∞
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The phrase uses a metaphorical sense of 'hang on' (to cling to) applied to 'every word', so the overall meaning 'listen very attentively' is not a straightforward composition of the literal senses. A B1 learner who knows the individual words may guess a relation (clinging to words = paying close attention) but the idiomatic, metaphorical extension is not fully predictable without prior exposure, so it is only partially transparent.
Etymology
The phrase hang on every word may come from the image of someone grabbing each word as it is spoken and holding on so they do not miss it. So, if you 'hang on every word', you 'listen very carefully'.