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Glite Dictionary
to hang upon

to hang upon

5.4
Depend on something that decides the result
  • phrasal verb
translation icon : depender de
  • His promotion will hang upon the results of the performance review next month.

A skeleton, a story that everything is hung upon or proceeds from.

Examples

  • When yellow leaves, or none, or few do hang upon those boughs which shake against the cold, bare ruined choirs, or late the sweet birds sang.

  • After all, the plot hangs upon the fact that he is keeping the news of his daughter's engagement from his wife, and then the aftermath of that secret coming out.

    Blog text (18)

  • A skeleton, a story that everything is hung upon or proceeds from.

    Tim Ferriss

  • Sleep shall neither night nor day hang upon his penthouse lid.

  • The success of the project will hang upon our ability to raise enough funding.

  • The outcome of the game will hang upon how well the team plays in the second half.

Synonyms

to depend
vsto hang upon
∞ 1.1

To be decided by another thing, for example the weather

is about being determined directly by something not by changing conditions
to depend on
vsto hang upon
819 1.7

Be affected or decided by something

is about being determined by something rather than merely influenced
to depend upon
vsto hang upon
67 2.3

To be decided by something such as the weather

is the same meaning expressed with slightly different wording
to hinge on
vsto hang upon
37 4.2

Need one thing to happen for another thing to be true

is the same idea without stressing total or complete control
to hinge
vsto hang upon
12 4.3

To depend on something for a result

is the general expression of the same relation without noting specific prepositions
to hinge upon
vsto hang upon
  • Formal
2 5.5

To depend completely on something for the result

is about being determined by something but not necessarily completely

How Dependent

to hinge on
37 4.2
to hang upon
5.4
to depend on
309 1.0
to relate
317 2.2

Surface Forms

hang upon infinitive
hanging upon present participle
hangs upon third person singular
hung upon past
hung upon past participle

Morphology

hang + upon

The phrase maps a physical image (one thing hanging on another) to the relational sense ‘depend on’, so a learner who knows 'hang' (to be suspended) and 'upon' (on/based on) can plausibly infer the meaning. However, the metaphorical leap and the somewhat formal/archaic flavor of 'upon' make the relation only partially predictable without prior exposure.

Etymology

Hang upon comes from the simple image of a thing that hangs upon a nail or hook: if the nail holds the thing stays, and if it fails the thing falls. So, the phrase came to mean 'to depend on' or 'to be decided by' something.