Word: hang Part of Speech: verb Etymology: From Middle English hangen, hongen, from a fusion of Old English hōn (“to hang, be hanging”, transitive verb) and hangian (“to hang, cause to hang”, intransitive verb), respectively from the transitive verb Proto-West Germanic *hą̄han and the intransitive verb *hangēn; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja (“to suspend”) and hanga (“to be suspended”); all from Proto-Germanic *hanhaną and *hangāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenk- (“to waver, be in suspense”). See also Dutch hangen, Low German hangen and hängen, German hängen, Norwegian Bokmål henge, Norwegian Nynorsk henga; also Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (hāhan), Hittite 𒂵𒀀𒀭𒂵 (/⁠kānk-⁠/, “to hang”), Sanskrit शङ्कते (śáṅkate, “is in doubt, hesitates”), Latin cūnctārī (“to delay”). Pronunciation: /ˈhæŋ/, [ˈhæŋ], /ˈhaŋ/, [ˈhaŋ], [ˈhäŋ] 1. To be or remain suspended. Labels: intransitive Example: The lights hung from the ceiling. Example: On the dark-green walls hung a series of eight engravings, portraits of early Victorian belles, clad in lace and tarletan ball dresses, clipped from an old Book of Beauty. Mrs. Bunting was very fond of these pictures; she thought they gave the drawing-room a note of elegance and refinement. 2. To float, as if suspended. Labels: intransitive Example: The smoke hung in the room. Example: It was a couple of days after the crash, with the smell of burning still hanging in the air from the incinerated wreckage of Coach H, where 31 passengers lost their lives, when I visited the West London site. 3. To veer in one direction. Labels: intransitive Example: The jockey claimed that the horse hung towards the outside[…] 4. To rebound unexpectedly or unusually slowly, due to backward spin on the ball or imperfections of the ground. Labels: intransitive, usually 5. To hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect. Labels: transitive Example: He hung his head in shame. 6. To cause (something) to be suspended, as from a hook, hanger, hinges, or the like. Labels: transitive Example: Hang those lights from the ceiling. Example: to hang a door 7. To kill (someone) by suspension from the neck, usually as a form of execution or suicide. Labels: transitive Example: The culprits were hanged from the nearest tree. Example: '[…] There's every Staffordshire crime-piece ever made in this cabinet, and that's unique. The Van Hoyer Museum in New York hasn't that very rare second version of Maria Marten's Red Barn over there, nor the little Frederick George Manning—he was the criminal Dickens saw hanged on the roof of the gaol in Horsemonger Lane, by the way—' 8. To be executed by suspension by one's neck from a gallows, a tree, or other raised bar, attached by a rope tied into a noose. Labels: intransitive Example: You will hang for this, my friend. 9. (used in maledictions) To damn. Labels: informal, transitive Example: Helena That depends on how much of the factory you show me. Domin Oh, hang the factory. Oh, no, no, you shall see everything, Miss Glory. Indeed you shall. Won't you sit down? Example: [H]e suddenly flung down his brush on the floor, said "Bother!" and "Oh blow!" and also "Hang spring-cleaning!" and bolted out of the house without even waiting to put on his coat. 10. To loiter; to hang around; to spend time idly. Labels: informal, intransitive Example: I didn't see anything, officer. I was just hanging. Example: He banned spearfishing wherever he could, started the first eco-moorings in the Caribbean, stopped others from coral- and shell-collecting, and had so much fun 24/7 that some unusually powerful people began to hang with him. 11. To exhibit (an object) by hanging. Labels: transitive 12. To apply (wallpaper or drywall to a wall). Labels: transitive Example: Let's hang this cute animal design in the nursery. 13. To decorate (something) with hanging objects. Labels: transitive Example: Let's hang the nursery with some new wallpaper. 14. To remain persistently in one's thoughts. Labels: figuratively, intransitive Example: Exploring, I found another short gallery running transversely to the first. This appeared to be devoted to minerals, and the sight of a block of sulphur set my mind running on gunpowder. But I could find no saltpetre; indeed, no nitrates of any kind. Doubtless they had deliquesced ages ago. Yet the sulphur hung in my mind, and set up a train of thinking. 15. To prevent from reaching a decision, especially by refusing to join in a verdict that must be unanimous. Labels: transitive Example: One obstinate juror can hang a jury. 16. To stop responding to manual input devices such as the keyboard and mouse. Labels: intransitive Example: The computer has hung again. Not even pressing <Ctrl>+<Alt>+<Del> works. Example: When I push this button the program hangs. 17. To cause (a program or computer) to stop responding. Labels: transitive Example: The program has a bug that can hang the system. 18. To cause (a piece) to become vulnerable to capture. Labels: transitive Example: If you move there, you'll hang your rook. 19. To be vulnerable to capture. Labels: intransitive Example: In this standard opening position White has to be careful because the pawn on e4 hangs. 20. To throw a hittable off-speed pitch. Labels: slang, transitive Example: McDougald then singled, and with a 3-2 count on Ellie Howard who was playing first base, Spahn hung a curve ball and Howard hit it over the wire fence in left field for a 4-4 tie. 21. To attach or cause to stick (a charge or accusation, etc.). Labels: figuratively, transitive Example: There were no whisperings, even from his opponents, that he was no better than he ought to be. Because, there was nothing wrong on which to hang a charge. As an eloquent orator, he carried with him the firm support of a good name. Example: Papa had wanted to call me Beverly Mary; Mary after the Blessed Virgin. Mama said she wouldn't hang a name like Beverly Mary on a pet skunk.