to hang back
34
4.6
- phrasal verb
- /hæŋ bæk/
:
quedarse atrás
- The three men hang back as the Wolf examines the car.
- just hang back
- hang back and watch
- let's hang back
So don't take any stance on them, just hang back a bit.
- So don't take any stance on them, just hang back a bit.
- And so I sort of hung back for a while.
- While the rest of the crew is hiking a fourteener, I'm hanging back and having a little me day.
- So that so that the same kind of fight or flight mode for men make them want to, may make them want to hang back and for women may make them want to engage.
- Edward the third, a great sort of quote UN quote warrior king, tends to hang back in the sort of Napoleon role, you know, on on high ground, surveying and strategizing and directing.
Examples
-
Mind if I just hang back here for a minute?
-
Us three decided to hang back at the hotel room and order some pizza rather than going out and to eat.
-
But I knew well enough to just kind of hang back and, you know, do my time.
-
No, we can hang back.
-
You go to the river, I'll hang back.
-
And so I sort of hung back for a while.
-
I'm just gonna hang back while you guys shoot around and stuff, you know.
-
The young women seemed to hang back, waiting for Nycum to invite them into her circle.
Academic text (2003) -
A few people rushed forward; some hung back, wary of him.
Fiction book (1992) -
Some toddlers are outgoing; others will hang back and watch the action before they join in.
Synonyms
318
2.5
To pause before saying or doing something because you feel unsure
159
1.6
Move away and keep a safe distance from something or someone for safety
37
4.2
To wait before doing something
17
5.0
Move or act slowly and waste time, causing delay
16
3.5
Wait before doing something because you feel unsure
6
4.8
To delay doing something to get more time
3
4.4
To stay in a place without a clear reason
To be slow on purpose because you do not want to do something
To delay doing something because you do not want to do it
To wait before acting and risk losing a chance
To waste time instead of working
Antonyms
How Hesitant
- Informal
1
4.7
16
3.5
34
4.6
318
2.5
346
1.0
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'to stay behind or hesitate' is directly derivable from combining 'hang' (to linger) with 'back' (toward or in a position behind); the particle 'back' provides the locational/retrospective sense that produces 'linger behind' or hesitate. This verb + particle composition is a common, productive pattern in English (and found in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows the constituent words would very likely infer the MWE meaning.
Etymology
Hang back comes from the simple picture of someone literally hanging at the back of a group, not moving forward with the others. That's why it now means 'to stay behind or hesitate'.