to hang square

1 7.4

Stay perfectly straight when on a wall or ceiling

phrasal verb

: colgar recto

The painting never hung square, no matter how many times we tried.

Examples

I adjusted the clock so it would hang square above the fireplace.
Check the mirror from different angles to ensure it hangs square on the door.
Don't forget to hang square!
Make sure to hang square on the wall!
Check the mirror from different angles to ensure it hangs square on the door.
I adjusted the clock so it would hang square above the fireplace.
Make sure to hang square on the wall to avoid it tilting later.

Antonyms

to sag

38 2.8

To bend downward because of weight or weak support

How Aligned

to hang square

1 7.4

tilt

21 2.8

crooked

86 2.5

Surface Forms

hang square infinitive

hanging square present participle

hang squares third person singular

hung square past

hung square past participle

Morphology

hang + square

The meaning is directly and compositionally derived from 'hang' (to suspend) + 'square' (exactly aligned/right-angled): together they indicate being suspended in a perfectly level or aligned way. This follows a standard verb + adverbial-orientational pattern that is cross-linguistically common, so a B1 learner who knows both words would be able to infer the MWE meaning.

Etymology

The phrase hang square comes from builders and carpenters. They used a simple L-shaped tool called a square to check that a picture they hung was 'straight' and 'level', so hang square means 'to hang straight and level'.