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Glite Dictionary
to hang a dog on

to hang a dog on

9.9
To not have enough evidence to prove someone is guilty or to take action
  • idiom
  • Archaic
translation icon : no tener fundamento
  • The accusations were not enough to hang a dog on, so the case was dropped.

Examples

  • His argument was weak; he tried to hang a dog on mere speculation.

  • Don't hang a dog on that flimsy excuse!

  • His weak arguments were hardly enough to hang a dog on during the debate.

  • None of the rumors is enough to hang a dog on in this situation.

  • His weak arguments were hardly enough to hang a dog on during the debate.

  • The accusations were not strong enough to hang a dog on, leading to their dismissal.

  • None of the evidence presented was sufficient to hang a dog on in this case.

Synonyms

unsubstantiatable
vsto hang a dog on
9.9

Not able to be proved with evidence

is a spoken idiom about reasons being insufficient to justify action
no leg to stand on
vsto hang a dog on
  • Informal
7.9

Have no good reason or evidence to support a claim

is about weak evidence failing to justify a judgment rather than personal excuses

Antonyms

to convince
∞ 2.7

Make someone believe something is true or agree to do something

to justify
720 3.4

To give good reasons that something you did is right

How Convincing

to prove
∞ 3.1
to establish
  • Formal
319 4.1
to support
572 2.1
to suggest
∞ 2.1
to hang a dog on
  • Archaic
9.9

Surface Forms

hang a dog on infinitive
hanging a dog on present participle
hangs a dog on third person singular
hung a dog on past
hung a dog on past participle

Morphology

hang + a + dog + on

The literal meanings of 'hang', 'a', 'dog', and 'on' would suggest physically hanging a dog or attaching something to it, which does not lead a B1 learner to the idiomatic sense about evidence being insufficient or not credible. Although English allows 'hang ... on' in the sense 'attribute/blame', the presence of 'a dog' is arbitrary and the overall meaning is idiomatic and unpredictable from the parts, so learners would not reliably infer it from the constituents alone.

Etymology

Hang a dog on comes from an old image of trying to 'hang' blame on someone, where the 'dog' stands for the blame. If the facts are too weak you cannot hang the dog, so the phrase means 'not enough evidence' or 'not convincing'.