| 释义 |
▪ I. hang, v.|hæŋ|
Pa. tense and pple. hung |hʌŋ|, hanged |hæŋd|. Forms: see below.
[c gray][The history of this word involves that of two OE. and one ON. verb; viz. (1) the OE. str. hón (:—hâhan), heng (? héng), hangen, (hǫngen), trans.; (2) the OE. weak hangian, hangode, -od, (also hǫng-), intr. = OFris. hangia, OS. hangôn (for OHG. hangên); (3) the ON. causal vb. hęngjan trans. = OHG. hęngan, MHG., MDu. hengen. OE. hón = OS. and OHG. hâhan, MHG. hâhen, hân, MLG. hân, MDu. haen, represented the OTeut. reduplicating vb., with consonant-exchange (grammatischer wechsel), hâhan (from earlier *haŋhan), hehâh (pl. hehaŋgun), haŋgan-, in Gothic, hâhan, haihâh, haihâhun, hâhan- (levelled under the present tense form). In WGer. and Norse, the pa. tense had the type heŋg: OS. heng, OHG. hiang, MHG. hienc, Ger. hing, ON. hekk, pl. hengu; OE. heng (? héng), ME. heng, hieng, heyng, hing. The pa. pple. hangen also varied in OE. and ME. with hǫngen (as in lang, long, etc.). Already in ON. the present stem hâh- had been ousted by the weak form hanga, and in the Middle period a similar change took place in all the WGer. langs.: MHG. hâhen, hangen, MDu. hâen, hangen, ME. hôn, hangen (hongen). This identified the old trans. vb. with the intr. hangian, hongian, so that both had now for the pres. t. hang (hong); in consequence of which the strong pa. tense and pa. pple. heng (hing), hangen (hongen), and the weak forms, hangede (hongede), -ed, became also generally confounded in sense, and (with some exceptions) used indiscriminately. Meanwhile the ON. causal verb hęngja came into northern Eng. as heng(e, also (with Eng. change of (-ɛŋ[/c]) to |-ɪŋ|, hing; at first app. with weak inflexion and trans. sense, hengde, henged, hingde, hinged; but soon, by assimilation to the 3rd ablaut-class of str. verbs, with a pa. tense hang, varying in north. midl. with hong, both trans. and intr. At this period (13–15th c.), therefore, while the south had pres. t. hang, hong, and pa. heng, hing, the north had conversely pres. heng, hing, pa. hang, hong. Finally the northern inflexion hing, hang, was completed by the pa. pple. hung, which in the 16th c. penetrated into general Eng.; where arose a new pa. tense hung (like sing, sung, sung), in presence of which the earlier heng, hing, and hong became obs. The weak inflexion hanged however continued in use (being the only one used in Bible versions from Coverdale to 1611, though Tindale had also houng); but was gradually superseded by hung in the general sense, trans. and intr., leaving hanged only in the special trans. sense (3) ‘put to death by hanging’, owing prob. to the retention of this archaic form by judges in pronouncing capital sentences. The distinction is found already in Shakespeare, and is established in the objurgatory expressions ‘You be hanged!’ ‘I'll be hanged if I do’, and the like. Nevertheless southern speakers and writers still often say ‘the man was hung’ instead of ‘hanged’. In the northern dialects, on the other hand, the distinction runs all through the verb, the special sense ‘put to death by hanging’ being expressed by hang, hang'd, hang'd, while the general verb is hing, hang, hung; the present tense hing extends into England as far south as Northamptonshire: see A. 1 ε, quot. 1821. In those dialects, therefore, hing and hang are distinct verbs, differing both in sense and inflexion; but in Standard English, there being only the single form hang for the present tense, it is necessary to treat all the forms together. (Hang is parallel in inflexion to fang v.)
The distinction of trans. and intr. has always tended to break down. The strong verb was orig. trans. in WGer. and in OE., hangian being the intr.; but in ON., hanga, hekk, hangenn was intr., and the causal hengja trans.; hengen is only trans. in Ormin, but Cursor M. and Hampole have heng, hing, both trans. and intr., like the contemporary southern hang, hong. Cf. also mod. Ger., in which the true intr. hangen is archaic, and ordinarily superseded by the trans. hängen, though the pa. tenses hing intr. and hängte trans. remain distinct in use.]
A. Inflexional Forms.
1. Present tense stem.
(α) 1–3 hó- (inf. hón, imper. hóh, 3rd sing. ind. hóþ, pl. ind. and imper. hóð). (Only trans.)
c1000Ags. Gosp. Matt. xxiii. 34 ᵹe hiᵹ ofsleað and hoð and swingað on eowrum ᵹesomnungum. Ibid. John xix. 6 Hoh hyne, hoh hyne..Nime ᵹe hine and hoð. c1160Hatton Gosp. ibid., Hoh hine, hoᵹ hine. c1205Lay. 10009 Þat be king heom sculde don oðer slan oðer hon. a1250Owl & Night. 1123 Me þe hoþ in one rodde.
(β) 1 (intr.) hang(i)-, 3– (also trans.) hang-.
c1000ælfric Gram. xxvi. (Z.) 157 Pendeo, ic hangiᵹe. c1000ælfric Hom. I. 596 Swa haliᵹ wer hangian ne sceolde. a1300Cursor M. 5015 (Cott.) Elles wil þai..Your eldest sun or hefd or hang [Fairf. hange, Trin. honge]. 1382Wyclif Matt. xxii. 40 In these two maundementis hangith al þe lawe and prophetis. c1440Promp. Parv. 225/2 Hangyn, by the selfe, pendeo. Hangyn a thynge on a walle, or other lyke, pendo, suspendo. 1653Walton Angler ii. 62 Come, hang him upon that Willow twig. Mod. Hang it in front of the fire, and let it hang all night.
(γ) (a) 3–4 (intr.) hong(i)-; 3–5 (also trans.) hong- (hongue, honge); (b) 3 heongi- intr., heong- trans.
(a)c950Lindisf. Gosp. Matt. xxii. 40 In ðisum tuæm bibodum all ae stondes vel honges [Rushw. ealle ae hongað]. c1205Lay. 510 Alle heo sculden hongien [c 1275 hongie] on heȝe treowen. c1275Ibid. 5715 Þat an hii solle hongy. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 448 He suor, honge he ssolde Anon. c1300St. Brandan 555 The cloth that so heȝe hongeth there. 1340Ayenb. 31 Hit behoueþ yelde oþer hongy.
c1290S. Eng. Leg. I. 10/312 Ore louerd þaron to hongue. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 561 Ich mai honge vp min ax. c1340Cursor M. 11890 (Fairf.) Traytours, he saide..I sale honge ȝou [Cott., Gött. hing]. 1362Langl. P. Pl. A. iv. 20 Hong on him an heui Bridel. c1380Wyclif Wks. (1880) 316 Knottis..hongynge bifore. c1420Pallad. on Husb. iv. 375 Let picche her pedifeet, & honge hem hie. 14..Eger & Grime 122 in Furniv. Percy Folio I. 358 Faire on his brest he cold it honge.
(b)c1205Lay. 26474 Alle heo sculleð heongien [c 1275 hongi] heȝe uppen treouwe. Ibid. 12281 Heo gunnen heongen [c 1275 honge] cniues.
(δ) north. and n. midl. 2–6 heng. trans. and intr.
[c1200Ormin *henngenn: see 2 ε] .c1330R. Brunne Chron. Wace (Rolls) 16182 Dide henge his lymes on a bow. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 182 A much berd as a busk ouer his brest henges. 1426Audelay Poems 1 Hye on galouys fore to heng. c1449Pecock Repr. ii. x. 199 Make Crist plesid with hem which henge in him. 1538Starkey England i. iv. 118 Many mennys materys heng in sute.
(ε) north. and n. midl. 3– hing- (4–6 hyng-) trans. and intr.
a1300Cursor M. 4946 If yee giue dome, þan sal þai hing [So all MSS.]. Ibid. 16020 To hefd him or to hing. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 172 Galwes do ȝe reise & hyng þis cheitefe. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 5 Hingand apon þat crosse. 1423Jas. I. Kingis Q. lxxxix, Thaire hudis oure thaire eyne thay hyng. c1440York Myst. xxxvi. 77 Ȝa, late hym hyng! 1483Cath. Angl. 186/1 To Hynge, pendere. 1570Levins Manip. 135/36 Hing, to hang. 1601Weever Mirr. Mart. B vj b, Whose bloudy flaggs like fierie streamers hing. 1637Rutherford Lett. (1862) I. 265 To hing your vessels..upon the Nail. 1821Clare Vill. Minstr. I. 46 Nodding bulrush down its drowk head hings. Ibid. II. 168 The lane-path where the dog-rose hings. 1826J. Wilson Noct. Ambr. Wks. 1855 I. 356 Hing 't on my thoomb. Mod. Sc. Hing it up, and let it hing for a day.
2. Past Tense.
(α) 1 heng (? héng), pl. hengon; 2–6 heng, pl. henge(n; 4 heeng, -e(n, 4–6 henge, 6 heyng. Orig. trans.; also 4–6 intr.
c1000ælfric Gen. xli. 13 Hine man heng. c1000Ags. Gosp. Luke xxiii. 33 Þar hiᵹ hine hengon [c 1160 Hatton Gosp. hengen]. 1154O.E. Chron. an. 1137 §7 [Hi] him on rode hengen. a1300Cursor M. 8498 (Gött.) He..henge [Cott., Fairf. hang(e, Trin. heng] þer-on, his folk to bie. c1340Ibid. 18561 (Trin.) Þei him henge [C. hang, F., G. hanged]. 13..Coer de L. 5712 Hys crouper heeng al full off belles. a1350Childh. Jesus 641 (Mätz.) His picher on þe sonnebeme he hieng. 1382Wyclif Ps. cxxxvi[i]. 2 Wee heengen [1388 hangiden] vp oure instrumens. c1400Mandeville (1839) viii. 93 The Tree of Eldre, that Judas henge him self upon. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) i. xv. 10 For me thou henge vpon the crosse. c1450Merlin 53 His legges and his reynes hengen above the water. 1485Caxton Chas. Gt. 13 Agabondus..after henge his wyf. 1526Pilgr. Perf. (W. de W. 1531) 242 b, The thefe that heng vpon the crosse by our lorde. 1596King & Barker 8 in Hazl. E.P.P. I. 4 Blake kow heydys sat he apon, The hornys heyng besyde.
(β) 4–5 hing(e, hyng, hynge. trans. and intr.
c1340Cursor M. 17035 (Laud) While he hyng on that tre [Cott., Gött. hang, Trin. hong]. 1412–20Lydg. Chron. Troy iii. xxii. (MS. Digby 230, lf. 106 b/2), Vpon his arme he hinge [MS. Digby 232, lf. 82 b/1, heng] his hors rene. c1450Cov. Myst. (Shaks. Soc.) 379 He hynge hymself upon a tre. 1460J. Capgrave Chron. (Rolls) 214 Anon the Kyng..hing [mispr. hung] the Januensis, and mad a new Capteyn. 1494Fabyan Chron. i. ccxlii, Thys mater hynge in argument..by the space of xv dayes. 1532Gower's Conf. viii. (ed. Berthelet) (R. Supp.), A pair of bedes blacke as sable She toke and hynge my necke about.
(γ) 1 hangode, 2–4 hangede (4 -ude), 4– hanged. Orig. intr.; from 3– also trans. (the only form of pa. tense in 16th c. Bible versions, exc. occas. Tindale). Now only trans., in sense 3.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 240 Ðaða Crist hangode on rode for ure alysednysse. c1200Vices & Virtues 51 Ðe hali rode ðe Crist on hangede. c1205Lay. 29559 Heo..nomen tailes of rehȝen, and hangede on his cape. c1340Cursor M. 19344 (Fairf.) Þe quilk ȝe hanged [Cott., Gött. hang] with fals assise. a1350Childh. Jesus 23 (Mätz.) Iesus hangude is picher on þe sonne beme. 1382Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 5 Goyinge awey he hangide [v.r. heeng, 1388 hongide] hym with a grane. 1539Bible (Great) Matt. xxvii. 5 And went and hanged hym selfe. 18..[see B. 3].
(δ) 3–4 hongede (-ide), 4 honged. Orig. intr.
c1205Lay. 13109 Þe hod hongede adun. a1225Ancr. R. 106 Þe munt of Caluarie, þer ure Louerd hongede. c1340Cursor M. 11898 (Trin.) Þerynne þei honged him bi þe fete. 1382Wyclif Gen. xl. 22 The tother he hongide [1388 hangide] in a gibite. ― Josh. ii. 21 She hongide [v.r. heeng, 1388 hangide] a litil reed coord in hir wyndowe.
(ε) north. and n. midl. 3 hengde, pl. -en, 4 henged. Orig. trans.; in 4 also intr.
c1200Ormin 9952 And henngdenn himm o rode. Ibid. 13773 Þatt Judisskenn laþe follc, þatt henngde Crist o rode. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 732 Þe colde borne..henged heȝe ouer his hede in hard ysse-ikkles. 1340Hampole Pr. Consc. 5260 Als he henged on þe rode tre. 1382Wyclif Gen. xxiv. 47 So I hengide [1388 hangide, v.r. hynge] eer ryngis to honoure the face of hir.
(ζ) north. dial. 3–4 hinged, 4 hynged (-id, -ud). trans. and intr.
a1300Cursor M. 8080 (Cott.) Lang and side þair brues wern, And hinged all a-bout þair hern. Ibid. 16676 (Cott. & Gött.) A theif on aiþer side þai hinged [Fairf. hong, Tr. heng]. a1340Hampole Psalter xxi. 1 When he hyngid on þe crosse. 1340― Pr. Consc. 5334 Þe man..Þe whilk yhe hynged on þe rode. c1410Hampole's Psalter cviii. 7 (Laud MS.) His dayes was few þat hyngid him selfe.
(η) north. dial. 3– hang. trans. and intr.
a1300Cursor M. 4468 (Cott.) Apon ilk bogh..hang winberis inogh [Fairf. hange, Gött. hing, Trin. henge]. Ibid. 18415 (Cott.) Þe Iuus me hang bi-side iesu [Gött. hanged, Laud hanggyd, Trin. honged]. c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 5 Þat pece..on whilk his body hang. 1578Ps. li in Scot. Poems 16th C. II. 116 The thief that hang on thy right hand. Mod. Sc. He hang his bonnet on the peg. A man that hang aboot the place.
(θ) n. midl. 3–7 hong, 3–5 pl. -e(n, 5–6 honge, 6 houng, hoong. trans. and intr. (But the 16–17th c. instances may perh. mean hung.)
c1275Lay. 29559 Hii..nemen rohȝe tayl..and honge[n on h]is cope. a1310in Wright Lyric P. xxv. 68 For love thou hong on rode tre. c1340Cursor M. 16717 (Trin.) Þo þeues þat bi him honge. Ibid. 20336 (B.M. Add. MS.) Mi sone þei hongen on a tre. c1386Chaucer Knt.'s T. 1564 The rynges on the temple dore that honge [Camb. henge]. 1513More in Grafton Chron. (1568) II. 781 Nothing ware that the axe hong so nere his awne heade. 1526–34Tindale Matt. xxvii. 5 He..went and hounge hym sylfe [later vv. hanged]. ― Acts x. 39 Whom they slew and honge [later vv. hanged] on tree. 1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807-8) II. 219 Then he hoong altogither on his sleeve. Ibid. III. 163 At this answer the duke hoong the groine. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. i. ii. 222 Hearers hong vpon his melting tong [rime he song].
(ι) 6– hung. trans. and intr. The current form.
1577E. Hogan in Hakluyt Voy. (1589) 157 Some of them..hung down their heads like dogs. 1597Daniel Civ. Wars vii. (R.), That which hung by more than by one nail. 1636G. Sandys Paraphr. Ps. (Cassell) [Thou] hung'st the solid earth in fleeting air. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 49 They..hung about his neck some Pipes. Mod. I hung the pictures where they hung before.
3. Past Participle.
(α) 1–5 hangen (5 -yn).
(β) 3–5 *hange, 5 hang.
a1000Elene 852 (Gr.) On hwylcum ðara beama bearn wealdendes..hangen wære. c1250Gen. & Ex. 4074 Ðe bidde ic hangen ðat he ben. 1482Monk of Evesham (Arb.) 38 Some were hangyn on galows.
14..Sir Beues 4051 (MS. M.) With skyll he shall be hang and drawe. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 226 Lo so hy thay have hym hang.
(γ) 3–4 hongen.
(δ) 3–4 yhonge, 4–5 honge.
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 172 Better..þan to be hongen in þi frendis sight.
1297R. Glouc. (1724) 174 Hys sseld..was þanne yhonge wast Aboute ys ssoldren. a1400–50Alexander 779 (Ashm.) Has a helme on his hede, and honge on his swyre A schene schondirhand schild.
(ε) 4– hanged. (Now only in sense 3.)
c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 50 Edrik was hanged on þe toure. 1377Langl. P. Pl. B. Prol. 176 Þo þe belle was ybouȝt, and on þe beiȝe hanged. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iii. iii. 51 Hye bemes and long on which were many hanged. 1535Coverdale Hos. ii. 8 Which she hath hanged vpon Baal. 1610Shakes. Temp. i. i. 35 If he be not borne to be hang'd. 1626Bacon Sylva §319 The Apple hanged in the Smoak. 1703Maundrell Journ. Jerus. (1732) 143 There were also hang'd in the Wall two small Bells. 1703Moxon Mech. Exerc. 202 When no weight is hanged to it. Mod. They were hanged, drawn, and quartered.
(ζ) 4–5 honged, -ud, -id.
c1388Tract in Wyclif's Sel. Wks. III. 472 He wolde raþer be hongud. 1426Audelay Poems 3 Thevys al day hongud thay be. 1483Caxton Gold. Leg. 152 a/1 Theron he was honged tyl hys Armes were out of Joynte.
(η) north. and n. midl. 3–6 henged (5–6 -yd).
c1200Ormin 1018 Þatt waȝherifft wass henngedd tær. c1300Havelok 2480 To þe galwes drawen..And þore ben henged wit two feteres. 1538Starkey England i. iv. 119 Hengyd wythout mercy or pyte.
(θ) 4–5 hinged, hynget, 5 Sc. hingit.
c1400Mandeville (Roxb.) ii. 5 Þe crosse on whilk Dismas þe gude theefe was hynged. a1400–50Alexander 779 (Dubl.) And hynget vmby þar shwyre A shemerand sheld. c1450Golagros & Gaw. 438, I war wourthy to be Hingit heigh on ane tre.
(ι) north. 6 hingen (-in, -yn). rare.
1513Douglas æneis v. vi. 49 Ane arrow cais..Hingin [ed. 1553 hingyn] by a braid tische of gold.
(κ) 6– hung. The current form.
1592Shakes. Ven. & Ad. 103 Over my altars hath he hung his lance. 1594― Rich. III, i. i. 6 Our bruised armes hung vp for Monuments. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. i. 214 Baits were hung on Hooks. a1898[see B. 1].
B. Signification.
I. Transitive senses.
1. a. To place (a thing) so that it is supported from above, and takes, below the point of support, the position due to the action of gravity or any external force; to fasten, hook on, or attach to an object above; to suspend.
c1000Sax. Leechd. I. 362 Wið fefore nim blæces hundes deades þone swyþran foten sceancan, hoh on earm. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 174 Hys sseld..was þanne yhonge wast Aboute ys ssoldren. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xix. cxii. (1495) 918 Ostryches egges ben hangyd in chyrches for lyghtnesse for they ben so grete and selden seen. 1526Tindale Matt. xviii. 6 Yt were better for hym that a millstone were hanged aboute his necke. 1595Shakes. John iii. i. 199 And hang a Calues-skin on his recreant limbs. 1647Ward Simp. Cobler 8 He..will for a need hang Gods Bible at the Devills girdle. 1666Pepys Diary 23 Aug., All the afternoon..hanging things, that is my maps and pictures and draughts. 1769Blackstone Comm. IV. 202 It was frequently usual for the court to direct the murderer, after execution, to be hung upon a gibbet in chains. 1818Shelley Rev. Islam iii. xxv. 4 Hung them on high by the entangled hair. 1865Dickens Mut. Fr. (Tauchn.) III. 68 (Hoppe) I'll have a bell hung from this room to yours. 1896R. Fry Lett. (1972) I. 168 Tonk's Broadstairs is a terrible thing to hang: it is so spotty and brilliant that it knocks the other things to pieces. a1898Mod. The artists whose pictures have not been hung in this year's Academy Exhibition. 1967Listener 2 Mar. 296/2 More rewarding, and better hung,..is the loan exhibition of graphics.
fig.1340Ayenb. 40 Þe ualse demeres, þet ham zelue hongeþ more of one half þanne of anoþre. 1597Hooker Eccl. Pol. v. viii. §2 Why we should hang our iudgement vpon the Churches sleeue. 1671Milton Samson 59 God..hung it [my strength] in my hair. 1873Holland A. Bonnic. xii. 203 He had hung the sweetest and highest hopes of his life upon me.
b. To suspend or tie up (bacon, beef, etc.) in the air to mature, to dry for preservation, or (game, venison) to become ‘high’.
1599H. Buttes Dyets drie Dinner I vj b, Fallow Deere..fat, very well chased, hang'd untill it be tender. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 43 The meat they string up, and hang it a drying. 1796H. Glasse Cookery iii. 20 If your venison be very sweet, only dry it with a cloth, and hang it where the air comes. 1863Morn. Star 1 Jan. 5 Potter..said game is not fit to eat until it has been hung.
†c. To hook (a fish). Obs.
1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iv. (1677) 46 The Pike..being hung, he hath drawn the Duck clear under water. a1683Oldham Passion of Byblis Wks. (1686) 134, I should have first with art disguis'd the hook..And found him hung at least before I strook. 1787Best Angling (ed. 2) 168 Hang a fish, hook him.
d. To suspend floating without attachment in the air, or in space.
1382Wyclif Job xxvi. 7 He..hangeth vp the erthe vp on nouȝt. 1591Sylvester Du Bartas i. iii. 971 Heavie things, hang'd in the Aire must fall. 1646J. Gregory Notes & Obs. (1650) 56 Over this Tohu or Nothing it was that he stretched the north or firmament and then hanged the Earth upon the same Nothing.
2. spec. To attach or suspend in such a way as to allow of free movement about or on the point of attachment; e.g. to hang a door (on its hinges), a coach (on springs), the tongue, the under jaw, etc. Also, to attach in a well-balanced or poised position, as to hang a scythe (on its ‘snead’).
1535Coverdale Neh. vi. 1 Had I not hanged the dores vpon the gates. 1697Dryden Virg. Georg. iii. 597 If a swarthy Tongue Is underneath his humid Palate hung. 1724Lond. Gaz. No. 6318/2 A..Spring..to be used in hanging of Coaches. 1738Swift Pol. Convers. 4, I warrant, this Rogue's Tongue is well hung. 1852Lanman Daniel Webster 20 (Cent.) He complained to his father that his scythe was not hung right. Various attempts were made to hang it better, but with no success. 1867Smyth Sailor's Word-bk., Hanging the rudder, so as to allow the pintles to fall into their corresponding braces. 1881Young Every Man his own Mechanic §836 To shew its construction and the mode adopted in ‘hanging’ it [a door].
3. To fasten up or suspend on a cross or gibbet, as a mode of capital punishment;
†a. formerly, spec. to crucify;
b. now, spec. to put to death by suspension by the neck.
In this sense, hanged is now the specific form of the pa. tense and pa. pple.; though hung is used by some, esp. in the south of England.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 308 Het se wælhreowa hine hon on heardre hengene. 1154O.E. Chron. an. 1137 §7 [Hi] him on rode hengen for ure Drihtines luue. a1225St. Marher. 5 Hongeð hire on heh. a1225Juliana 28 Þe reue..het hire hon up ant hongin biþe toppe. 1297R. Glouc. (1724) 509 The king..hangede men gultles. c1320Sir Tristr. 1797 Sche swore bi godes rode þai schuld ben hong and drain. c1330R. Brunne Chron. (1810) 247 As a þefe slawen, on galwes hanged hie. 13..Coer de L. 3692 The devyl hange you be a corde! c1400Destr. Troy 7573 To be hangit in hast, or his hede tyne. 1465Paston Lett. No. 99 I. 135, I was arestyd..and was thretenyd to have ben hongyd, drawen, and quarteryd. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 16 Caused hym to be hanged, in the Palaice of Westminster, where he hong twoo daies. 1667Pepys Diary 4 Apr., He had hanged him at the yard's arm, without staying for a Court-martiall. 1711E. Ward Vulgus Brit. iii. 33 And like a Trew Blew Moderator Would Hang him first, and Try him a'ter. 1721–2R. Wodrow Suffer. Ch. Scotl. (1838) I. i. iv. §4. 357/1 That he should be hanged at the cross of Edinburgh..and after he was hanged dead, that his head be severed from his body. c1801C. K. Sharpe in Mem. (1888) I. 25 Paul slew his sire, was hanged, and hung in chains. 1817Shelley Address Pr. Wks. 1888 I. 372 These men were..at last brought to the scaffold and hung. 1828Scott F.M. Perth xxx, I hope they hanged the villain high enough? 1838Dickens O. Twist lii, To be hanged by the neck, till he was dead—that was the end. 1896Globe 18 Nov. 1/4 No one would have hung a dog upon the evidence. 18..Times 11 Sept., Alleging the dictum of a Judge: ‘Beef, Sir, is hung, men are hanged’.
c. refl. To commit suicide by hanging.
a1300Cursor M. 16504 A rape..fast he fest abute his hals, Þer-wit him-self he hang. 1388Wyclif Matt. xxvii. 5 He passide forth, and ȝede, and hongide hym silf with a snare. c1460Towneley Myst. (Surtees) 142 Let thame go hang thame. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. ii. 42 He constrayned them of dispaire and anger to hang themselves. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. v. i. 366 If hee that writ it had..hung [Qq. hanged] himselfe in Thisbies garter. 1657R. Ligon Barbadoes (1673) 51 Such an one that hang'd himself. 1855Ld. Lonsdale in Croker Papers (1884) III. xxix. 323 You may regard it as only giving them rope to hang themselves! 1884Chamb. Jrnl. 10 May 293/1 Zeno hanged himself at the ripe old age of ninety-eight.
d. Used as an imprecation, or as a strong expression of anger, vexation, or impatience. Also, I'll be hanged if{ddd}, I'll see (you, etc.) hanged first, as emphatic forms of angry refusal or denial.
13..Coer de L. 4414 Hangyd be he that this toun yelde, To Crystene men, whyl he may leve! c1392Chaucer Compl. Venus 33 Jelousie be hanged be a cable! 1589Pappe w. Hatchet 4 And so fare well, and be hangd! 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 301 Ile see thee hang'd on sonday first. 1598― Merry W. iii. iii. 196 Hang him, dishonest rascal! 1607― Timon iv. iii. 87 Hang thee, Monster! Ibid. v. i. 134 Speake and be hang'd. 16022nd Pt. Return fr. Parnass. iii. iii. 1296 Hang me if he hath any more mathematikes then wil serue to count the clocke. 1675Hobbes Odyssey (1677) 208 But, hang him!..labour for his living he will not. 1703Steele Tend. Husb. iii. ii, No, hang it! 1711Addison Spect. No. 57 ⁋7 I'll be hanged if you and your silent Friend there are not against the Doctor. 1712Arbuthnot John Bull iii. ix, Part with my country-seat..I'll see him hanged first. 1738Swift Pol. Convers. 82 She's immensely rich.—Hang her! they say, her Father was a Baker. 1779Mrs. Thrale in Mad. D'Arblay's Diary 20 Oct., I would have sent to you, but hang it, thought I, if I only name her [etc]. 1836Marryat Midsh. Easy xiii, But hang me if I hadn't the best of the argument. 1851Mrs. Carlyle Lett. II. 143 I'll be hanged if I ever give you anything another time. 1852R. S. Surtees Sponge's Sp. Tour xix, ‘Hang the rain!’ exclaimed Jawleyford. 1862Thackeray Round. Papers, De finibus 276 ‘Be hanged to you, can't you leave me alone now?’ 1889J. K. Jerome Three Men in a Boat 246 ‘Well, hang it all, I've done more than old J., anyhow.’ 1894R. Bridges Feast of Bacchus v. 1541 ‘You and your Persian customs be hanged, Sir.’
4. a. To let droop or bend downward; to cause to lean or slope over.
1593Shakes. 2 Hen. VI, ii. iii. 45 Thus droupes this loftie Pyne, and hangs his sprayes. 1596― 1 Hen. IV, iii. ii. 81 But rather drowz'd, and hung their eye-lids downe. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 490 The Clouds began to hang their heads to the Eastward, and at last moved gently that way. 1827Clare Sheph. Cal. 34 Where the snow-drop hings Its silver bell.
b. to hang the head (down): i.e. as a sign of shame, despondency, contrition, or sheepishness. So to hang the lip, etc.
c1205Lay. 15688 Þa heng heo hire hæfued & heolde touward bræsten. c1375Chaucer Troylus iii. 1030 (1079) And þerwithal he heng a-doun his hed. c1380Wyclif Serm. Sel. Wks. I. 69 Crist comfortiþ his children..þerfore shulden þei rere þer heedis..and nouȝt hong þere heedis doun. 1548Hall Chron., Rich. III, 54 Although he was there wt all a litle vexed, beganne somewhat to hang y⊇ hedde [1568 Grafton Began somwhat to hang the lip]. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) II. 56 He hung down his head, and..withdrew quite abashed. 1786Burns Tam Samson's Elegy iii, The Brethren o' the mystic level May hing their head on woefu' bevel. 1790C. Lennox Euphemia xxxv. III. 2 Miss Bellenden hangs her fair head at this intelligence. 1797M. Robinson Walsingham III. 173 The landlord hung his brow, abashed and selfreproved. 1887Besant The World went vi. 48 He began to hang his head again, and to be despondent.
c. to hang the groin, hang a leg, hang an arse (vulgar): to hesitate or hold back; to be reluctant or tardy; to hang back.
1577–87Holinshed Chron. (1807–8) III. 163 At this answer, the duke hoong the groine. 1596Harington Metam. Ajax (1814) 61 Some of our rude countrymen english this hanging an arse. 1599Marston Sco. Villanie, Ad Rithmum 194. 1633, 1663 [see arse 1 b]. 1828Craven Dial. s.v. Hing, ‘To hing an a—’, to loiter. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. i. v, You have your hands on thousands, you fools, and you hang a leg!
5. To furnish or decorate with things suspended about or around; esp. to deck or ornament (a place) with tapestry or hangings.
1451[see hanged 3]. 1484Caxton Fables of Poge (1889) 1 He saw the bedde rychely couerd & the walles wel hanged. 1523Ld. Berners Froiss. I. xxxiv. 48 The hall of the towne was apparelled and hanged, as though it had ben the kynges chamber. 1568Grafton Chron. II. 183 Conveyed her through the Citie, which then was richely hanged. 1634Sir T. Herbert Trav. 38 Their eares hung with five, six, or eight Rings. 1697Dryden Virg. Past. vi. 124 Till unperceiv'd the Heav'ns with Stars were hung. 1722Lond. Gaz. No. 6084/2 The first Room was hung with Bayes. 1809R. Langford Introd. Trade 121 How many yards of paper..will hang a room?
6. a. to hang fire: (of a fire-arm) to be slow in communicating the fire through the vent to the charge; hence fig. to hesitate or be slow in acting.
(It is doubtful if this is really transitive: it is perhaps connected with 17.)
1781Thompson in Phil. Trans. LXXI. 278 In consequence of which the piece is slower in going off, or, as sportsmen term it, is apt to hang fire. 1801Scott Let. to G. Ellis 7 Dec. in Lockhart, Leyden's Indian journey..seems to hang fire. 1815Sporting Mag. XLVI. 120 He..was sure the jury would not hang fire in giving him a verdict. 1853Kane Grinnell Exp. xxii. (1856) 174 It is a flint-lock concern, and half the time hangs fire. 1892Literary World 27 May 509/2 A book produced anonymously hung fire for six weeks.
b. fig. To reduce to, or hold in, a state of indecision or inaction; esp. in phr. to hang a jury, to prevent (as a juryman) a jury from reaching a verdict (cf. 17 c). U.S.
1778G. Washington Let. 15 June in Writings (1834) V. 405, I am hung in suspense. 1848E. Bryant California xxvi. 291 The jury, after the case was referred to them, were what is called ‘hung’; they could not agree. 1868Harper's Mag. Mar. 542/2 The jury..returned with a verdict in favor of the plaintiff! On remonstrating with the Mexican why he did not ‘hang’ the jury, the lawyer asked him, ‘Why did you bring in a verdict against yourself?’ 1967Guardian 3 Apr. 2/7 The lone juror who finally hangs the jury will not emerge,..unless at the start his view has some support.
7. a. To catch or fasten in something.
18..Georgia Scenes 17 (Cent.) Jake hung his toe in a crack of the floor, and nearly fell. 1882Nares Seamanship (ed. 6) 183 If the crosstrees hang the mast..heave the mast up.
b. To tie or hitch up (a horse). (Cf. 28 e.) Chiefly U.S.
1835Southern Lit. Messenger I. 581 Having arrived at Blank, we hung our horses, as Virginians always do after riding them. 1843‘R. Carlton’ New Purchase xxvi, While hanging Dick to a gate post. 1900H. Lawson On Track 30 He got down, wondering what was up, and hung his horse to the last post but one. 1916J. B. Cooper Coo-oo-ee! xii. 164 You made the remark that ‘you'd tie up your horse’—an Australian ‘hangs’ his horse to a fence.
II. Intransitive senses.
8. a. The proper verb expressing the position or posture of a thing unsupported beneath, and kept from falling by being attached above; usually implying motion or mobility of the unattached parts: To remain fastened or suspended from above; to depend, dangle, swing loose.
c1000ælfric Hom. I. 466 His loccas hangodon to ðam anccleowum. c1205Lay. 13109 Þe hod hongede adun. a1300Cursor M. 3067 On þat tre hinges frut ful gode. 1398Trevisa Barth. De P.R. xiii. xxiv. (1495) 456 A drope hangynge fallynge or stondynge. c1440York Myst. xlviii. 21 He ete the appill I badde schulde hyng. 1548Hall Chron., Hen. VIII, 3 Her heire hangyng downe to her backe, of a very great length. 1585T. Washington tr. Nicholay's Voy. iv. iii. 115 b, They hadde theyr Woodknife or skaine hanging at their girdle. 1597R. Johnson Seven Champions i. i. (1867) 7 Another apartment, where hung the richest armour in the world. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 305 Sheep..with the Ears hanging down. 1674tr. Scheffer's Lapland 93 They have alwaies some [water] hanging over the fire in a kettle. 1774Goldsm. Nat. Hist. (1776) IV. 246 It often also hangs by the tail, which is long and muscular. 1842Tennyson Morte d' Arthur 219 Curls..clotted into points and hanging loose. 1861M. Pattison Ess. (1889) I. 45 Among the portraits which hung above were two allegorical pieces.
b. In various proverbs and phrases.
1548Hall Chron., Hen. VI, 168 b, By whose misgovernaunce..his aucthoritie [might] hang in a very small thred. 1581G. Pettie Guazzzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 97 b, With a sword still hanging by a haire over his head. 1707Watts Hymn, ‘Thee we adore, Eternal Name’ v, Great God! on what a slender Thread Hang everlasting Things! 1818Scott Rob Roy xxvi, Na, na! let every herring hing by its ain head, and every sheep by its ain shank. 1838De Quincey Wks. (1863) XV. 43 note, During the currency of the three Sundays on which the banns were proclaimed by the clergyman from the reading-desk, the young couple elect were said jocosely to be ‘hanging in the bell-ropes’, alluding perhaps to the joyous peal contingent on the final completion of the marriage.
c. Of flesh for food: To be suspended or fastened up in the air to dry, mature, or become ‘high’: cf. 1 b.
1861Mrs. Beeton Househ. Managem. (1880) 528 A hare..is better to hang without being paunched.
d. (By transposition of subject and adjuncts): To be furnished or adorned with things suspended or attached.
13..Coer de L. 5712 Hys crouper heeng al full off belles. 1737Bracken Farriery Impr. (1757) II. 95 He is apt..to hang all over with a kind of dewy Sweat. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton xiii. 181 Bands of sand..hanging with every variety of wild flower.
9. To be supported or suspended at the side, as on a hinge or pivot, so as to be free to turn or swing horizontally.
a1300Cursor M. 18104 He..brast þe brasen yates sa strang, And stelen croc þat þai wit hang [Gött. lock þat þar-on hang]. 1869W. C. Hazlitt Eng. Prov. & Proverbial Phrases 7 A creaking door hangs long on its hinges.
10. spec.
a. Of a person: To be suspended on or upon a cross, gibbet, gallows, etc.; to suffer death in this way; esp. as a form of punishment. Also as an imprecation: cf. 3 c. Now usu. in phr. to go hang: to go and be hanged; to ‘go to the devil’; to be dismissed or rejected; freq. let (it, etc.) go hang.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 256 Þes halᵹa Hælend hangað her unscyldiᵹ. a1225Ancr. R. 106 He [our Lord] ase he hongede, muhte habben hore breð..amidden his neose. a1300Cursor M. 12218 Worthi he war on gebet hang. 1340Ayenb. 218 Þanne hit behoueþ þet hi yelde: oþer þet hi hongi. Vor ase me zayþ: ‘oþer yelde: oþer hongi’. c1489Caxton Sonnes of Aymon xxii. 481 He shall see me hange shamfully. 1596Shakes. 1 Hen. IV, ii. i. 74 If I hang, Ile make a fat payre of Gallowes. 1606― Ant. & Cl. ii. vii. 59 Go hang sir, hang: tell me of that? Away. 1610― Temp. ii. ii. 53 [She] Would cry to a Sailor, goe hang. 1712–14Pope Rape Lock iii. 22 Wretches hang that jurymen may dine. 1879Browning Ned Bratts 24 Betting which knave would 'scape, which hang. 1881C. Gibbon Dead Heart v, ‘The Count..may go hang for me.’ 1921R. Hichens Spirit of Time xii. 203 Hold on to the best in yourself and let all the rest go hang. 1937J. Betjeman Coll. Poems (1958) 41 Other cars all go hang My little bus is enough for us. 1960M. Sharp Something Light xix. 174 Louisa instantly resolved to let the room go hang. 1973Physics Bull. June 345/3 It would even be proper for SRC to decide to support (say) only 20 post⁓graduate schools of chemistry and to let the rest go hang.
b. To be in desperate difficulties. slang.
1874Hotten Slang Dict. 187 Hanging, in difficulties. A man who is in great straits, and who is, therefore, prepared to do anything desperate to retrieve his fortunes, is said, among sporting men, to be ‘a man hanging’, i.e. a man to whom any change must be for the better. 1889Barrère & Leland Dict. Slang I. 446/2 To hang (popular and sporting), to be in a desperate state.
11. a. To have the top bending or projecting beyond the lower part; to bend forward or downward; to lean over; also, to incline steeply (see hanging ppl. a. 2).
Beowulf (Z.) 1362 Se mere..ofer þæm hongiaþ hrinde bearwas. c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 82 Ordeyne þe lyme so þat þe mouþ of þe wounde hange dounward. 1546Langley Pol. Verg. De Invent. iii. x. 77 a, Dædalus..first inuented the plomline, whereby the Euenes of the Squares bee tried whether they batter or hang ouer. 1568Tilney Disc. Mariage D vij, The top of a highe rocke, which hung over the sea. 1598R. Grenewey Tacitus' Ann. xii. viii. 165 The high hils which hanged ouer them. 1641F. Hawkins Youth's Behav. (1663) 19 Go not with thy head too high, nor too low, nor hanging to the right, or left. 1818Shelley Rev. Islam i. xxiii, The mountains hang and frown Over the starry deep. 1851Greenwell Coal-trade Terms Northumb. & Durh. 29 Hang, to incline or dip. 1871Freeman Norm. Conq. IV. xviii. 191 The later castle, whose picturesque turrets and battlements hang so proudly over the river at its feet.
b. To lean or watch over (with care and anxiety, as a sick or dying person).
1792S. Rogers Pleas. Mem. i. 45 O'er infant innocence to hang and weep. 1855Tennyson Maud i. xix. iv, When only Maud and the brother Hung over her dying bed.
c. Iron-founding. = scaffold v. 5.
1878Jrnl. Iron & Steel Inst. XII. 202 When a furnace ‘hangs’ on one side, a more common occurrence with small old furnaces than with large modern ones, a system prevailed in some works of putting half a pig of lead in above the part that was fast. 1908R. Forsythe Blast Furnace 242 When the stock becomes wedged so tightly that it can no longer descend, the furnace is said to ‘hang’.
d. Of a horse: to veer towards one side.
1951E. Rickman Come racing with Me ii. 16 Sarda II ‘hanging’ towards Native Heath..who won by a short head. 1958J. Hislop From Start to Finish xi. 128 Courses such as Epsom and Lewes, where the ground slopes towards the rails and horses tend to hang that way. 1965Observer (Colour Suppl.) 30 May 34 If he starts to hang before he tires a jockey can generally straighten him up.
12. a. To remain suspended without visible support; to rest, float (in the air, etc.).
c1200Ormin 7339 Þe sterrne comm rihht till þatt hus..And..heng þæroferr stille. c1305St. Cristopher 210 in E.E.P. (1862) 65 In þ'eir hi [arewes] honge aboue him. 1563W. Fulke Meteors iv. (1640) 46 b, A Cloud is a vapor cold and moyst, drawne..by the heate of the Sunne, into the middle region..where, by cold it is so knit together that it hangeth. 1658Willsford Secrets Nat. 111 If the Stars..seem to hang as if they were ready for to fall, it argues [etc.]. 1712Addison Spect. No. 420 ⁋3 To see so many Worlds hanging one above another. 1850Tennyson In Mem. cvii. 10 Yon hard crescent, as she hangs Above the wood. 1883Stevenson Treas. Isl. iii. xiv, The few birds..still hung in alarm above the heads of the intruders.
b. fig. Of an evil or doubt: To hover over one, ready or liable to fall; to impend, be imminent; esp. in phrase, to hang over (one's) head.
1548Hall Chron., Edw. IV, 219 The greate calamities and adversities, whiche then did hang over her hed, and were likely..to fall. 1552Bk. Com. Prayer Communion, How sore punishmente hangeth ouer your heades. 1651Hobbes Leviath. ii. xxv. 133 The punishment hanging over us for our sins. 1664Flodden F. iv. 34 Now since at hand such danger hings. 1783Polite Trav. 76 Embittered as they were by..the popular odium which hung over them. 1865–6H. Phillips Amer. Paper Curr. II. 72 Uncertainty hung over the movements of the British troops in New York.
13. a. To rest on, upon († of, etc.) for support or authority; to depend upon; to be dependent on.
c1000ælfric Hom. II. 314 Hi ealle [ᵹesette] hangiað on ðisum twam wordum. c1200Moral Ode 312 in Trin. Coll. Hom. 229 Al hit hangeð and halt bi þese twam worde. 1382Wyclif Gen. xliv. 30 The lijf of hym hongith [1388 hangith] of the lijf of this. 1413Pilgr. Sowle (Caxton 1483) iii. iv. 52, I had made..one of yow Chaunceler and another tresorer in whiche offyces specially hanged alle the gouernaunce. 1471Ripley Comp. Alch. iv. xiv. in Ashm. (1652) 147 And in two thyngs all our entent doth hing. 1538Starkey England i. i. 14 The vnyuersal and true law of nature..no thyng hangyng of the opynyon and folysch fansy of man. 1660R. Coke Power & Subj. 202 The proces hanging upon such writs. 1718Prior Pleasure 299 Does life or death Hang on the wrath or mercy of my breath? 1824L. Murray Eng. Gram. (ed. 5) I. 444 A sentence composed of several members linked together, and hanging upon one another. 1852Tennyson Ode Wellington 240 One, upon whose hand and heart and brain Once the..fate of Europe hung.
b. To remain or rely in faith or expectation; to count or depend confidently on, upon († of). ? Obs.
1393Langl. P. Pl. C. xv. 214 And hope hongeþ ay þer-on to haue þat treuthe deserueþ. c1400Destr. Troy 8089 At hir wordes, I-wis, the worthy was glad; Hengit in hope, held hym full gayne. 1549Coverdale, etc. Erasm. Par. Heb. 18 But what thing was it that made him more dearly beloued of God then his brother Cayn: Forsoth faith, wherby he wholy hanged of him. 1625Gonsalvio's Sp. Inquis. Pref. D ij b, Matters which hee vnderstandeth not, whereby he must needs hang altogether of other mens opinions. 1817F. Burney Wanderer V. 123 Determined..to hang..solely upon herself.
c. To remain in consideration or attention.
c1340Hampole Prose Tr. 37 Hafe in mynde his manhede sumtyme..bot leue of sone and hyng noghte to lange þareappone. c1491Chast. Goddes Chyld. 92 A man shall put suche myswenyng away from hym, ne dwelle not ne henge not longe therupon. 1557N. T. (Genev.) Luke xix. 48 All the people hanged vpon him when they heard him. 1638Baker tr. Balzac's Lett. (vol. III.) 215 You have auditors..they run after your words, and hang at your mouth. 1766Fordyce Serm. Yng. Wom. (1767) II. viii. 18 Attention will hang upon her words. 1864Tennyson En. Ard. 873 Enoch hung a moment on her words.
14. To attach oneself for support; to cling, hold fast, adhere.
a. with arms, claws, mouth, etc.
c1330Assump. Virg. (B.M. MS.) 653 The Iewe þat henge apon þe bere [l. 615 To þe bere he cleued fast]. 1393Langl. P. Pl. C. iv. 227 Thou hast hanged on myn hals elleuen tymes. c1465Eng. Chron. (Camden 1856) 47 Yonge childrynne lay ded in the stretis, hangyng on the ded modris pappis. 1583Stubbes Anat. Abus. ii. (1882) 43 Halt, blind, lame..hanging vpon his sleue..crauing of releefe. 1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. ii. i. 310 Shee hung about my necke, and kisse on kisse Shee vi'd so fast. 1622Sparrow Bk. Com. Prayer (1661) 376 Notorious sinners..begging the prayers..hanging upon the knees of all that entered into the Church. 1711Addison Spect. No. 31 ⁋2 The dogs..would hang upon their Prey by their Teeth. 1885Manch. Exam. 5 June 8/4 Two young maids..hang with laughing glee on his arms.
b. Of things: To stick, adhere, cleave.
1639S. Du Verger tr. Camus' Admir. Events 130 Whose foote hanging in one of his stirrups, and the Mule setting himselfe to run..drag'd. 1662J. Davies tr. Olearius' Voy. Ambass. 305 The fat hangs to them in great gobbets. 1688J. Smith Baroscope 37 The Mercury will never play free therein, but hang to the Sides. 1860Tyndall Glac. i. vii. 51 Secondary glaciers..hanging on the steep slopes.
c. To stick close, so as not to leave or let go.
1508Dunbar Flyting w. Kennedie 226 With..all the toun tykis hingand at thy heilis. 1697Bentley Phal. etc. Ep. Euripides (1836) II. 213 Give me an advocate that will stick close, and hang upon a cause. 1735Somerville Chase ii. 227 The patient Pack Hang on the Scent unweary'd. 1838Thirlwall Greece xl. V. 119 Alexander..hung upon their rear, obstructed their march.
d. Of the wind: To remain persistently in a certain point of the compass.
1671R. Bohun Wind 142 The Easterly are..very often the most freezing winds, especially if they hang somewhat towards the North. 1697W. Dampier Voy. I. 82 The Winds hung in the western quarter betwixt the N.W. and the West, so that we could not get much to the Westward. 1748Anson's Voy. iii. vi. 351 The winds hanging in the northern board. 1781Nelson 5 Mar. in Nicolas Disp. I. 40, I am sorry the wind hangs so much Western board, as it must hinder the sailing of the Grand Fleet. 1865Gosse Land & Sea (1874) 6 On one occasion the wind had hung long from the westward.
e. To attach oneself as a dependant or parasite; to be a hanger-on.
1535Coverdale Prov. xix. 6 The multitude hangeth vpon greate men. 1613Shakes. Hen. VIII, iii. ii. 367 Oh how wretched Is that poore man, that hangs on Princes fauours? 1691Wood Ath. Oxon. I. 584 His son Edm. lived by hanging on Gentlemen, and by his shifts. 1766Goldsm. Vic. W. iii, Crowds of dependants..hung upon him for a time. 1832Examiner 268/1 They..continued to hang on the parish.
15. a. To cling or adhere as an encumbrance or drag; to be a burdensome or depressing weight.
c1450Golagros & Gaw. 1176 As tuiching this thing That now hingis on my hart. 1592Shakes. Rom. & Jul. v. i. 71 Contempt and beggery hangs vpon thy backe. 1653Walton Angler ii. 50, I begin to be weary; yester dayes hunting hangs stil upon me. 1700Bp. Patrick Comm. Deut. xxviii. 68 Though some, as I said before, were sold at a very vile rate, next to nothing; yet others hung upon the sellers hands. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) III. 6 Something hangs upon your spirits. 1821Shelley Prometh. Unb. i. 436 Most heavy remorse hangs at my heart.
b. esp. of time.
1711Addison Spect. No. 93 ⁋2 Several Hours of the Day hang upon our Hands. 1768–74Tucker Lt. Nat. (1852) II. 316 So much time hanging heavy upon our hands for want of employment. 1770Gray in Corr. w. N. Nicholls (1843) 104 To pass my solitary evenings, which hung much lighter on my hands before I knew him. 1892W. Pike Barren Ground N. Canada 137 With these attractions and a fair supply of books, time did not hang at all heavily.
16. fig. To be attached as an adjunct or connected circumstance.
1596Shakes. Tam. Shr. iv. i. 60. 1598 ― Merry W. i. iv. 159 Wel, thereby hangs a tale. 1688Kennet in Magd. Coll. & Jas. II (O.H.S.) 258 Thereby hangs a tale. 1847L. Hunt Men, Women, & B. II. iv. 52 Thereby hangs an anecdote that shall be noticed presently.
17. a. To be or remain in dubious suspense; to be doubtful or undecided. Also to hang in the wind.
1382Wyclif Deut. xxviii. 66 Thi lijf shal be as hongynge before thee. 1430–40Lydg. Bochas i. xiv. (1554) 27 b, Althea..Gan sore muse and henge in a balaunce. c1500Melusine xxxi. 228 Wherfore the cyte henge in balaunce to be delyuered & gyuen ouer to the Sarasyns. 1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 77 b, The Counsaill have long debated..and as yet the matter hangeth in suspence. 1555J. Proctor Hist. Wyat's Rebell. in Arb. Garner VIII. 70 Such..as hung in the wind, as neuters. 1679T. Siden Hist. Sevarites 95 We began to hang between fear and pleasure. 1732Pope Ess. Man ii. 7 He hangs between; in doubt to act, or rest. 1862Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 144 He has been hanging betwixt life and death. 1881Daily Tel. 28 Jan., I..hung in the wind a moment before asking leave to step down. 1881Jowett Thucyd. I. 65 A battle was fought which hung equally in the balance.
†b. To remain unsettled or unfinished; to be held in process or in abeyance: often with a notion of delay. See also hanging ppl. a. 3. Obs.
1494Sc. Acts Jas. IV (1597) §57 The summoundes that ar now dependand and hingand betuixt ony parties. 1538Starkey England i. iv. 118, I see many mennys materys heng in sute ii, iij, or iiij yere. 1666Pepys Diary 27 Oct., While the business of money hangs in the hedge. 1728W. Smith Ann. Univ. College 321 The Cause would never have hung upon the Hedges so long as it did.
c. Of a jury: to fail to agree. (Cf. 6 b and hung ppl. a. 3.) U.S.
1859Bartlett Dict. Amer., To hang, to stick fast, come to a stand still; as, the jury hung, and ‘the man got a new trial’. 1929Randolph Enterprise (W. Va.) 24 Oct. 5/1 The jury hung up on the case and were discharged.
18. Of a note in music: To be prolonged.
1597Morley Introd. Mus. 81 He woulde saie it hangeth too much in the close. 1779Burney Infant Music. in Phil. Trans. LXIX. 198 A particular note hung, or, to speak the language of organ builders, ciphered, by which the tone was continued without the pressure of the finger.
19. a. To remain with motion suspended.
1667Milton P.L. vi. 189 A noble stroke he lifted high, Which hung not. 1847Tennyson Princ. vii. 64 Ida came behind Seen but of Psyche: on her foot she hung A moment, and she heard.
b. To slacken motion perceptibly; spec. in Cricket (see quots.) and Baseball. Occas. trans.
1838Bell's Life 8 July 4/4 The dead state of the ground, which prevented the balls from working, and caused them to hang considerably. 1897K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket 77 The ball is made to hug the ground when it pitches, and to rise slowly afterwards, or ‘hang’, as it is called by cricketers... With some bowlers it either ‘hangs’ or more often comes fast off the pitch owing to something in their regular action. 1897Encycl. Sport I. 246/1 A ball ‘hangs’ which rises unexpectedly slowly from the pitch. 1906Jephson in H. G. Hutchinson Cricket 103 He ran up and delivered the ball, to all appearances, exactly similarly each time; but one found now that the ball was hanging in the air, now that it was on to one surprisingly soon. 1928Funk's Stand. Dict. I. 1112/1 Hang (Sport), to slacken speed perceptibly and unexpectedly: said of a ball in flight in various games, and of a boat between strokes, in rowing. 1967Boston Globe 5 Apr. 51/6 ‘It was a bad pitch,’ Bennett admitted. ‘I was trying to pitch low and instead I hung a high curve ball for him to hit.’
c. to hang to (see quot.).
1888Lockwood's Dict. Mech. Engin. 172 Hang to, a term having several applications. A file hangs to its work when it cuts without slip. A saw hangs to, when it feels as though being drawn into the timber. A pattern hangs to the sand when it delivers with difficulty.
20. To remain as unwilling to depart or move on; to loiter, linger, as with expectation or interest: often with the implication of parasitical attachment. Cf. hang on, 26. Also, esp. U.S., to hang around (a person, place, etc.). So hang-arounder.
1830Corrector (Sag Harbor, N.Y.) 26 June 1/3 What a number of young gentlemen you have in this city—hanging round the corners—standing in hotel doors. 1842Tennyson Godiva 2, I hung with grooms and porters on the bridge, To watch the three tall spires. 1847J. S. Robb Streaks of Squatter Life 133 Every time I come up from Lusiane, I found Jess hangin' round that gal. 1854Kingsley Hypatia ix, Groups of monks, priests..and citizens..were hanging about the courtyard. 1856Kane Arct. Expl. II. iv. 49 This same deer has been hanging round the lake. 1861Dickens Gt. Expect. xxxviii, Drummle so hung about her..that I resolved to speak to her concerning him. 1883F. M. Peard Contrad. xxxiv, Stephen..hung by her side while she gathered the flowers. 1885‘C. E. Craddock’ Prophet Gt. Smoky Mts. 8, I hev seen that critter, that thar preacher, a-hangin' round you-uns house a powerful deal lately. 1892Law Times XCIII. 490/1 The witnesses had to be kept hanging about. 1897S. T. Clover Paul Travers' Adv. 51, I guess I can fix you out if you hang around here, but keep shady. 1915N. L. McClung In Times like These vi. 72 Although the polls are only open every three or four years, if women .once get into the way of going to them, they will hang around there all the rest of the time. 1938O. Nash I'm Stranger Here Myself 234 The hang-arounders' cheerful chirrups. 1939I. Baird Waste Heritage xi. 136 He hung around the window then he stopped in the doorway and tried the door in case there was anyone inside the store could say whether Eddy had been hanging around. 1950A. Lomax Mr. Jelly Roll 57 Buddy Bolden, the most powerful trumpet player I've ever heard..and the absolute favourite of all the hangarounders in the Garden District. 1970G. F. Newman Sir, You Bastard viii. 244 He didn't hang around afterwards. 1973Melody Maker 25 Aug. 27 In a front room in Shepherds Bush, however, plots are being hatched—and hang about, because I'm not going to bore you with yet another..yarn.
†21. To hanker after or for. Obs.
c1672Wood Life (O.H.S.) I. 475 His mind still hung after antiquities and musick. 1684Southerne Disappointment ii. i, Alphonso..whom my heart hangs after for its peace.
III. In combination with adverbs.
22. hang back. intr. To resist advance by one's weight or inertia; fig. to show unwillingness to advance or come forward; to be backward.
1581G. Pettie Guazzo's Civ. Conv. ii. (1586) 110 So if hee hang backe, hee shall bee halled forward with honour. 1673Dryden Marr. à la Mode ii. i, Pr'ythee do not hang back so. 1709Addison Tatler No. 81 ⁋4 Another, that hung back at the Entrance, and would have excused himself. 1819J. W. Croker in C. Papers 4 May, Peel and Plunkett were hanging back, each unwilling to speak first. 1872Black Adv. Phaeton x. 140 The horses hanging back from the pole [of the phaeton] in this fashion.
23. hang behind. intr. To lag behind and retard progress.
1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. i. (1677) 16 When Hounds hang behinde, and beat too much upon the scent or place, we say, They Plod.
24. hang in. intr. To persist in spite of adversity (as of a boxer app. facing defeat); to hold out or endure; also, to wait around. Freq. imp. and with there. colloq. (chiefly U.S.).
1969New Yorker 14 June 44/3 He tries a careful, hang-in-there, soft crosscourt top-spin dink. 1971E. E. Landy Underground Dict. 98 Hang in (there). 1971Atlantic Monthly May 6/1 [President Nixon] has a long history of coming from behind..and of confronting adversities, and it would be in his nature to hang in there and fight. 1972Dict. Contemp. & Colloq. Usage (Eng.-Lang. Inst. Amer.) 15/1 Hang in there, buddy, you'll soon feel better. To make sense; to fit in or carry through, as a conclusion that is appropriate for what went before. 1974New York 18 Mar. 39 Rose Mary Woods is hanging in, but her friends say it has been difficult. 1979J. Heller Good as Gold 347 Hang in there, if you can, until his eyes turn glassy and he starts to yawn. 1982Observer 26 Sept. 25/7 Mrs Mao had him down and almost out, but he hung in. 1984J. Archer First among Equals xii. 134 ‘No, no,’ said Simon. ‘I'll hang in there now that I've waited this long.’
25. hang off.
a. intr. To cease to cling; to leave hold.
1590Shakes. Mids. N. iii. ii. 260 Hang off thou cat, thou bur; vile thing let loose.
b. To show hesitation in coming to close quarters or to an agreement; to hang back, demur.
1641Trapp Theologia Theol. 238 Moses..hung off a great while from going to Pharaoh with a message of dismission. 1669Pepys Diary 3 Jan., I, out of my natural backwardness, did hang off, which vexed her. 1686Goad Celest. Bodies i. xii. 44 We hang off, and seem loth to come upon the Stage. 1894Daily News 18 Sept. 2/7 Buyers hanging off to an unusual extent.
26. hang on.
a. intr. To remain clinging, to continue to adhere: usually implying expectation, or unwillingness to sever one's connexion.
1860Mrs. Carlyle Lett. III. 61 Charlotte..is still hanging on at her mother's..with nothing to do. 1861D. Cook P. Foster's D. II. 56 What does he do now? Oh, he hangs on at the Nonpareil. 1884Church Bacon iii. 61 The shrewd and supple lawyers who hung on to the Tudor and Stuart Courts. 1893Farmer Slang, To hang on by one's eyelashes..to persist at any cost, and in the teeth of any discouragement. 1899G. B. Shaw Let. 20 Apr. (1931) 260 She is always hanging on by her eyebrows, whereas the German is comfortably seated in a solid, permanent, broadbottomed engagement. 1931Times Lit. Suppl. 12 Mar. 193/1 Lacking roots in the soil of any particular country, Whistler had always to ‘hang on by his eyebrows’. 1935Yachting Dec. 82/3 Hanging on by the eyelids, the seaman's vivid description of his situation during a very heavy gale. 1958Listener 21 Aug. 259/2 Each aircraft hangs on to the tail of the one directly in front.
b. to hang it on: to delay or protract a matter; cf. to hang it out, 27 d. (slang.)
1812J. H. Vaux Flash Dict., Hang it on, purposely to delay or protract the performance of any task or service you have undertaken, by dallying and making as slow a progress as possible. 1823Egan Grose's Dict. Vulg. Tongue.
c. To wait. Freq. in imp., be patient, be reasonable!
1939J. B. Priestley Let People Sing x. 262 I'd better hang on and have a word with her. 1941Baker Dict. Austral. Slang 34 Hang on!, be reasonable! Not so fast. 1971Woman's Own 27 Mar. 26/1 Hang on a minute... I'm coming with you.
d. Used in a telephone conversation in the sense of ‘hold the line’.
1936R. Lehmann Weather in Streets i. iv. 70 Hang on a moment... Mummy wants to speak to you. 1960Daily Tel. 15 Aug. 17/5 Switchboard operators have been trained not to keep any caller ‘hanging on’. 1969S. Hyland Top Bloody Secret i. 37 ‘Shall I tell him you're coming?’ ‘Yes please. Tell him to hang on’.
e. to hang on to (something): to retain.
1871Trollope Eustace Diamonds (1873) I. xvi. 220 It was manifest enough that she meant ‘to hang on to them’ [sc. the diamonds]. 1936‘M. Innes’ Death at President's Lodging ix. 166 He had in his possession certain valuable documents... Umpleby simply hung on to them. 1971‘D. Halliday’ Dolly & Doctor Bird ii. 16 The hotel wouldn't let her hang on to her room.
f. to hang one on: to deal (someone) a blow.
1908K. McGaffey Sorrows of Show-Girl 200 Hauling off wifey hangs one on Alla's map. 1960B. Crump Good Keen Man 44 I'd thought for a moment he was going to hang one on me. The idea..had got his goat all right. 1966Punch 19 Jan. 69/1 There are moments when most of us have felt the keenest desire to hang one on the boss's chin and walk out.
g. Used in various technical senses (see quots.).
1963Amer. Speech XXXVIII. 118 Hang on, to maintain a proper position for the receiver while it is coupled to the tanker's air refueling boom. ‘Dingbat 27, can you hang on if I start a slow turn to the left?’ 1967Gloss. Mining Terms (B.S.I.) x. 7 Clip on or hang on, to attach a tub or tubs to a haulage rope by a clip or shackle.
27. hang out.
a. intr. To protrude with downward direction.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 59 Wiþ open mouþ..his tunge hangiþ out. 1590Shakes. Mids. N. iv. ii. 42 Let not him that playes the Lion, paire his nailes, for they shall hang out for the Lions clawes. 1674N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. i. (1677) 120 The canine Teeth..hang out very long.
b. trans. To suspend (a sign, colours, or the like) from a window, on a projecting pole, a rope, etc.; to display as a sign or signal. Also, to hang out to dry: to suspend (wet washing) on a clothes-line in the open so that it can dry. Hence transf. in Cricket: hang one's bat out to dry (see quots.).
to hang out one's shingle (U.S. colloq.) to put up one's sign-board or door-plate, to establish oneself in business.
1564in Vicary's Anat. (1888) App. iii. 166 Takynge care, that they..doe neyther hange or beate oute..eny maner of beddynge or apparrell. 1600J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 129 While women are bathing themselves, they hang out a rope at the first entrance of the house, which is a signe. 1654Whitlock Zootomia 79, I will..be the Physitian, and hang out an Urinall. 1712Addison Spect. No. 265 ⁋6 The Whig and Tory Ladies begin already to hang out different Colours. 1884Besant Childr. Gibeon 2 When she was hanging out the clothes. 1893N.E.D. s.v. Clothes sb. pl., Clothes-line, rope, a cord or wire on which to hang out washed clothes to dry. a1898Mod. Flags and banners were hung out in honour of the royal visit. 1895C. B. Fry in Badminton Mag. Aug. 132 He [sc. the young player on hard wickets] gets into the habit of moving his right leg, leaving his bat hanging out to dry, and playing crooked. 1925Country Life 25 July 142/1 In playing forward..never ‘hang your bat out to dry’ by not advancing your left foot to the pitch of the ball; if you do, you have neither power nor control.
c. intr. To reside, lodge, live (colloq. or slang). Also, of a job: to be available, to be found.
1811Lex. Balatronicum s.v., The traps scavey where we hang out, the officers know where we live. 1837Dickens Pickw. xxx, I say, old boy, where do you hang out? 1876Geo. Eliot Dan. Der. xxxvii. (D.), I've found two rooms at Chelsea..and I shall soon be ready to hang out there. c1926‘Mixer’ Transport Workers' Song Book 69 When there is a job hanging out. 1931T. R. G. Lyell Slang 364, I hear you've got a job in Foster's factory. Where does it actually hang out? 1931D. Runyon Guys & Dolls (1932) ii. 35 He cannot have a whole lot of sense, or he will not be hanging out with Handsome Jack. 1935Forres, Elgin & Nairn Gaz. 6 Nov. 4/5 (heading) Later American word-imports... Phrases are very numerous:—Where do you hang out? 1936Wodehouse Laughing Gas ii. 23 The head of the family has always hung out at the castle.
d. (Australian colloq.) to hang it out = ‘to hang it on’, 26 b. Also without it: to endure, hold out. Chiefly Austral. and N.Z.
1890Boldrewood Col. Reformer (1891) 236 As long as they have their grub and their wages they'll hang it out, one again the other. Ibid. 341 The rest of the time you'll have to hang it out the best way you can. 1939J. Dell Nobody ordered Wolves ii. 14 B. and P. offered her twelve thousand..but I told her to hang out and sure enough Bill sold her to M.B.G. for fourteen thousand flat. 1941Baker Dict Austral. Slang 34 Hang out, to endure: to delay (a matter). 1944J. Fullarton Troop Target xi. 87 I've been pretty crook for the last hour. But I wanted to hang out till we saw a house. 1946K. Tennant Lost Haven ix. 132 The old punt had broken down at last. He had been hoping against hope that it would hang out until the war ended, but the luck was against him.
e. Slang phr. to let it all hang out: to be uninhibited or relaxed; to be candidly truthful. orig. U.S.
1970C. Major Dict. Afro-Amer. Slang 76 Let it all hang out, to be uninhibited, free. 1972National Observer (N.Y.) 27 May 17/3 Give it expression, they say, ‘Let it all hang out.’ If it ‘all hangs out’, it is bound to do some good. 1972Village Voice (N.Y.) 1 June 51/1 No names, of course, will be used; he doesn't expect everyone will be as willing as he is to let it all hang out.
28. hang together.
a. intr. To adhere together loosely or without rigid attachment.
c1400Lanfranc's Cirurg. 48 Ouþer a boon is not kutt al atwo but sum of his substaunce is don awey..or ellis he hangiþ togidere. 1673Ray Journ. Low C. (1738) I. 421 Bastons of wood hacked and cleft (but so as the pieces hang together).
b. To be coherent or consistent; to constitute a coherent or consistent whole.
1553T. Wilson Rhet. (1580) 107 The rather their tale maie hang together. 1594Shakes. Rich. III, iii. vi. 4 Here is the Indictment..And marke how well the sequell hangs together. 1699Bentley Phal. 47 How can these two stories hang together? 1885Manch. Exam. 22 Sept. 5/1 There are many things in the Berlin Treaty which do not hang well together.
c. To hold together; to be associated, united, or mutually dependent; spec. (of a person) to keep body and soul together, to continue to exist.
1551T. Wilson Logike (1580) 25 b, Therefore it hangeth together as Germaines lippes, as we use to saie. 1598Shakes. Merry W. iii. ii. 13 As idle as she may hang together for want of company. 1644Milton Judgm. Bucer Wks. 1738 I. 284 Many Marriages hang as ill together now, as ever they did. 1697Collier Immor. Stage iv. §3 (1730) 140 Let us now see how Sir Tunbelly hangs together. 1760C. Johnston Chrysal (1822) III. 24 We have always been remarkable for hanging well together. 1894Westm. Gaz. 14 June 3/1 Someone having said to him, ‘You know, Franklin, we must all hang together in this matter’, he instantaneously replied, ‘Yes, or we shall assuredly all hang separately!’
29. hang up.
a. trans. To fasten a thing on high so that it is supported only from above; to suspend on a hook, peg, or the like. Also absol. = to hang up the receiver of a telephone at the end of a conversation; to hang up on: to break off telephonic communication with.
a1300Cursor M. 12072 And be þe har he vp him hang Þat all moght se him spek him to. 13..Gaw. & Gr. Knt. 477 Now sir, heng vp þyn ax. c1440Anc. Cookery in Househ. Ord. (1790) 447 Honge hit up in a clothe a lytel while. 1686N. Cox Gentl. Recreat. iv. (ed. 3) 28 A Range of Presses made with Peggs in them to hang up Saddles [etc.]. 1726N. Riding Rec. VIII. 174 All Mayors..are hereby ordered to hing or cause to be hung up this order in some public place. a1898Mod. Let me hang up your overcoat. 1911A. B. Smith Mod. Amer. Teleph. xxvi. 759 When the subscribers are through talking, they hang up their receivers. 1928E. Wallace Double viii, ‘Oh, Mr. Staines!.. What a dull life yours must be!’ And then she hung up on him, and left him feeling like a spanked child. 1928F. N. Hart Bellamy Trial iii. 101 He'd hung up, I guess. Anyway he didn't answer. 1952A. Baron With Hope, Farewell 103 He managed to say, ‘Thank you,’ and was about to hang up. 1960Daily Tel. 15 Aug. 17/5 Several directors and secretaries of firms told me that they hung up within a minute if they could not get through. 1968‘P. Barrington’ Accessory to Murder vii. 125 Mrs. Lindley heard the click of the receiver and became indignant. He'd almost hung up on her.
b. Phrases. to hang up (one's sword, gun, etc.): to put aside in disuse; to give up using. to hang up one's hat: see quots.; to hang up one's boots, to give up playing a game; to hang up the spoon, to die; to hang up a record, to set up a record.
[1297R. Glouc. (1724) 561 Ich mai honge vp min ax, febliche ic abbe agonne. 1595Maroccus Ext. p. v, And therewith mee thinkes I see him hang the hat upon the pin againe. 1659B. Harris Parival's Iron Age 46 Before we sheath our sword, and hang it upon the nail.] 1826H. N. Coleridge West Indies 249 And having fought through the Peninsula hung up his sword non sine gloria. 1847Marryat Childr. N. Forest v, A little more practice, and I will..hang my gun up over the chimney. 1855Trollope Warden xix, Eight hundred a year, and as nice a house as any gentleman could wish to hang up his hat in. 1888Elworthy W. Somerset Word-bk. s.v., When a man marries and goes home to the wife's house to live, he is said to ‘hang up his hat’. 1925O. Jespersen Mankind, Nation & Individ. ix. 166 There are countless variants [for ‘to die’]..take an earth bath, hang up the spoon, snuff the candle, snuff it. 1930Publishers' Weekly 15 Mar. 1508/2 A record sale was hung up..on Tuesday... Four hundred and ten copies of the book were sold in one hour. 1938D. Runyon Take it Easy xv. 283 Professor D. says he has no doubt that under the old rule Nicely-Nicely will hang up a record that will endure through the ages. 1942Berrey & Van den Bark Amer. Thes. Slang 44 Reside, hang up one's hat. Ibid. 132 Die, hang up one's hat. Ibid. 242 Hang up one's hat,..to be perfectly at ease, make oneself at home. 1949F. Sargeson I saw in my Dream ii. xiii. 113 Some said that..he'd have had more self-respect if he'd told the girl to go and hang her hat up somewhere else. 1963Times 23 Jan. 3/4 Johnson, Miller, and Johnston hung up their boots soon afterwards and two years later Benaud began to build the side.
†c. To hang on a gibbet (= sense 3); hence as an imprecation (= 3 c). Obs.
1588Shakes. L.L.L. iv. iii. 54 The shape of Loues Tiburne, that hangs vp simplicitie. 1592― Rom. & Jul. iii. iii. 57 Hang vp Philosophie: Vnlesse Philosophie can make a Iuliet, Displant a Towne. 1771Goldsm. Hist. Eng. IV. 10 Feversham, immediately after the victory, hanged up above twenty prisoners. 1774― Grecian Hist. II. 59 If Philip takes the city, he will hang up Aster.
d. To put ‘on the shelf’ or into abeyance; to keep back, delay, detain for an indefinite time. Also to hang it up, to chalk it up, to give credit. slang.
1623F. Ryves Let. 8 Oct. in Abp. Ussher's Lett. (1686) 301 After a while, that Negotiation was hung up upon the Nail, in expectance of the Princes return. 1803G. Rose Diaries (1860) II. 33 He might hang the matter up..as long as he pleased. 1841Swell's Night Guide Gloss., Hang it Up, to go on Credit. 1844W. H. Maxwell Sports & Adv. Scotl. xiii. (1855) 118 The Roost of Sumburgh will..‘hang up’ a vessel among its..currents..for days together. 1874‘Mark Twain’ & Warner Gilded Age I. xiii. 172 The Colonel muttered something to the barkeeper about ‘hanging it up’. 1884Pall Mall G. 20 Oct. 1/1 Carried by a larger majority than that which hung up the Franchise Bill in July. 1890Spectator 12 July 37/2 The proposal..to hang up Bills which might be proceeded with in another session of the same Parliament without beginning de novo. 1942S. H. Adams Tambay Gold xiv. 191 They hung me up for the parking fee.
e. To fasten or tie up (a horse). Austral. colloq.
1858W. Kelly Life in Victoria (1860) 49 In Melbourne there are posts sunk in the ground almost opposite every door... Fastening your horse to one of these posts is called ‘hanging him up’. 1890Boldrewood Col. Reformer xvi. 185 The gentleman in advance hung up his horse and walked into the house. 1895Pall Mall Mag. Sept. 104 He hung up his horse to that post. 1966‘J. Hackston’ Father clears Out 118 On the Saturday many good hacks were hung up at the hotel.
f. intr. To be suspended on a wall, etc. Also, to suspend movement or action; to stop or stay.
1667Pepys Diary 22 July, In my Lord's room..where all the Judges' pictures hung up. 1845Greenfield Fish. Rec., Chowan, N.C. 6 May in N. E. Eliason Tarheel Talk (1956) 276 Made 2 hauls & hung up [for the fishing season]. 1854Congress. Globe App. 108 (Th.), In reading the President's message,..he got befogged, and, in the language of the Kentucky boatman, ‘hung up for the night’. 1874E. Eggleston Circuit Rider xvi, You mou't get a place 'bout a mile furder on whar you could hang up for the night. 1895Dialect Notes I. 372 A mower, when rain was coming on: ‘I reckon we'll have to hang up for all day.’
g. Cab-drivers' slang. (See quots.)
1930‘A. Armstrong’ Taxi xii. 164 ‘Hanging it up’ is loitering past a theatre to snatch a fare away from the recognized rank. 1939H. Hodge Cab, Sir? i. v. 50 Policemen in these outer districts are more easy-going than in the West End. So I chance ‘hanging it up’ as we call it, near the door, keeping my engine running in case the policeman looks too nasty.
Add:[I.] [4.] d. Surfing slang. to hang five, hang ten, etc.: to allow the specified number of toes to project over the nose of the surfboard, usu. to gain speed. Also transf. and fig. (see quot. 1968–70).
1962Austral. Women's Weekly 24 Oct. (Suppl.) 3/2 Hanging ten, a trick method of riding with toes tucked over the front of the surfboard. 1963Pix 28 Sept. 62/2 Hang eleven, ten toes and rider over nose of board. Less two points. 1965S. Szabados in J. Pollard Surfrider ii. 21/1 If you want to ‘hang five’ with the experts—don't rush it. 1969Current Slang (Univ. S. Dakota) III. 7 Hang ten, to ‘get with it’; join the crowd.—High school students, both sexes, Ohio. 1977Skateboard Special Sept. 2/2 Hang five, to hang five toes of one foot over the front of the board. 1989Times 23 Dec. 22/1 Children..have been making weekend pilgrimages..to tic-tac, hang-five and scoot up and down the paving banks that have been unwittingly provided for their skateboards.
e. colloq. (orig. and chiefly U.S.). to hang a left, right, etc. (also joc. with proper names having the appropriate initial letter, as Louie, Ralph, etc.): to go or turn in the specified direction, esp. while travelling in a motor vehicle or on skis. Cf. sense 11 d below.
1967Evening Standard 26 July 13/3 If you're in your pig [sc. car, in Detroit] and you ‘hang a Louie’, you've just turned left. If you ‘hang a Ralph’, it's a right turn, ‘hang a Sam’ is go straight and ‘hang a Ulysses’ means make a U-turn. 1975L. Dills CB Slanguage Dict. 39 Hang a right (left), turn right or left. 1976N. Thornburg Cutter & Bone viii. 192 Bone told him to go on to the next corner and hang a right. 1978N.Y. Times Mag. 23 July 23/1 The skiing term hang a left is used generally to mean to take a left turn. 1984Sunday Tel. 29 July 19/1 ‘Hang a right on Santa Monica Freeway, hang a left on Harbour and another right on Sixth Street.’ If you hang lefts where you were told to hang rights, the freeway system is unforgiving. 1986L. Cody Under Contract xli. 170 ‘Where is it?’ ‘Left..hang a left.’ They drove through dark wet streets.
▸ hang out v. intr. slang (in early use chiefly U.S.), to spend or pass time, esp. habitually, idly, or at leisure, usually at a specified place or with specified company; to socialize informally, esp. as part of a peer group; (of two or more people) to associate, spend time together; freq. with at, with, etc.
1846Swell's Night Guide 36 Nor is this hall all that is, for there is a rendezvous or nocturnal meeting, wines, music, the song and the dance. Here also hang out some of the prima donnas of the flags and curbs, some of the small fry of 80, Quadrant [sc. another saloon]. 1868H. Alger Ragged Dick xxii. 246 ‘Where do you hang out?’.. ‘At Henderson's hat and cap store, on Broadway.’ 1913G. J. Kneeland Commercialized Prostitution N.Y. 65 She was ‘lined up’ about a year ago by a gang that ‘hangs out’ in a cigar store on East 14th Street. 1951N. Rorem Paris Diary (1966) i. 7 She encouraged gaudy and exhibitionistic comportment..partly to give herself an identity with the post-surrealist gang she hung out with. 1978Globe & Mail (Toronto) 8 Feb. 31/5 Just get your minnow-loaded spreader down on bottom... That's where the trout hang out during winter in this lake. 1982S. Bellow Dean's December iii. 51 They don't plan, and don't ‘do’; they only hang out. 1992B. Sterling Hacker Crackdown 124 Nodes were larger, faster and more sophisticated than mere boards, and for hackers, to hang out on internationally connected nodes was quite the step up from merely hanging out on local boards. 2000Chicago Tribune 1 Sept. vii. 38/4 With live music on Sundays and an oxygen bar, this is a great place to hang out.
▸ orig. and chiefly U.S. slang. To pass time idly or aimlessly; to associate or socialize informally with (esp. as part of a peer group). Cf. earlier hang out v. at Additions.
1941New Yorker 26 Apr. 22 To hang,..means to loiter. ‘I used to hang in Forty-sixth Street, front of Variety,’ a small bookmaker may say. 1969Playboy Dec. 100/1 When I'm not on a football field, I hang with whoever I want to hang with. 1988D. Waters Heathers (film script) 86 Do you think, do you really think, if Betty Finn's fairy godmother made her Cool, she'd still act nice and hang with her dweebette friends? 2001C. Glazebrook Madolescents 207 We could listen to some music, phone for a pizza. I dunno..just hang.
▸ a. trans. Computing. To cause (a program, device, system, etc.) to hang up (see to hang up at Phrasal verbs).
1975R. Clements Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 689. 5 If two minutes go by and no final RFNM arrives, we also just go to CLZW to prevent being hung by an unresponsive foreign host or an IMP/subnet failure. 1983Austral. Personal Computer Sept. 123/1 print dumps the screen contents to a printer. It also hangs the system if a printer is not connected, but break will get you out without needing to reset. 1993Byte Dec. 158/2 It insisted on using the three-color thermal-wax ribbon setting, which hung the printer. 1998Daily Tel. 8 Oct. (Connected section) 7/4 My Global Village Teleport modem is supposed to distinguish between incoming fax, data and voice calls, but doesn't; it merely hangs the computer.
b. intr. Computing. Of a program, system, or device: to halt (from the user's perspective) during a process and remain in an unresponsive state, freq. in such a way that the machine or system must be re-started to become operational.
Hanging may be the result of being overloaded with data, or of waiting indefinitely for an internal or external prompt or condition to be met in order that a loop may be exited.
1979M. R. Crispin Request for Comments (Network Working Group) (Electronic text) No. 752. 2 On the other hand a ‘server’ which does not accept mail and rejects mail in a pathological way (e.g. by hanging) might be labelled a ‘user’. 1986Austral. Personal Computer Sept. 19/3, I found out..that you have to reset the machine every time you change the position of the 6/8 switch. When you toggle it the machine hangs—which I suspect is something actually designed into the system. 1991What Personal Computer Dec. 153/1 Now I'm really frightened, because I've just run a free disk and my system has hung. 2000Business Day (S. Afr.) 27 Jan. i. 11/2 Even the minor infections are irksome, making computer systems hang or inflicting minor changes to your documents.
▸ hang up v. intr. Computing. = Additions b.
1983InfoWorld 12 Sept. 50/2 When I used part of the memory in my system as a virtual disk, with Softspool installed, there were times when my system hung up and required a reboot. 1990Computer Buyer's Guide & Handbk. vii. 1012 An Autosave should be an unobtrusive background feature that does not interrupt your train of thought. This one does—by hanging up the screen and by making an unpleasant nasal beep. 2001Computerworld (Nexis) 29 Oct. 48 Simply put, the blue screen of death is just a serious error message, a sign that your computer has hung up due to an error.
▪ II. hang, n.|hæŋ|
[f. prec. vb.]
1. a. The action of hanging, drooping, or bending down; also, a downward inclination, slope, or bend; a declivity.
1807Vancouver Agric. Devon (1813) 50 Yarcombe is favorably situated on the south-east hang of a hill. c1850Rudim. Navig. (Weale) 140 Ram-line. A..line..used for the purpose of forming the sheer or hang of the decks. 1850L. Hunt Autobiog. i. (1860) 25 Never shall I forget her face..with that weary hang of the head on one side.
b. A slackening or suspension of motion. Also in Cricket (see hang v. 19 b).
1866Morning Star, The objectionable hang at the termination of the stroke [of an eight-oar] had almost entirely disappeared. 1867F. Francis Angling v. (1880) 182 A trout usually rests where the hang and eddy of the stream will give him the best chance. 1888R. H. Lyttelton in Steel & Lyttelton Cricket ii. 48 Any break, hang, or rise that the bowler or the ground may impart to the ball must almost inevitably produce a bad stroke. 1897K. S. Ranjitsinhji Jubilee Bk. Cricket 78 The ideal bowler..should do his best to acquire a command of off-break and leg-break, ‘top’ and ‘hang’. 1901[see bump n.1 1 c].
2. The mode in which a thing hangs or is poised; spec. of a painting or work of art.
a1797M. Wollstonecraft Posth. Wks. (1798) IV. 121 Death could not alter the rigid hang of her limbs. 1864Webster s.v., The hang of a scythe or of a discourse. 1878Jefferies Gamekeeper at H. 6 So accustomed is he to its balance and ‘hang’ in the hand that he never thinks of aiming. 1885M. E. Braddon Wyllard's Weird III. 22 She believed that for the hang of a skirt..she could hold her own with any house in London. 1959Listener 5 Mar. 422/3 The Secretary of the Society, with no previous experience of the compromise necessary in rooms so unsuited to the display of very modern painting, has achieved a remarkably successful hang. 1964Guardian 21 Apr. 9/1 At the great Tate Gallery exhibitions..the brilliance of the hang has invariably been cancelled out by the failure of..the lighting engineers.
3. to get the hang of: to become familiar with the proper wielding or use of a tool; fig. to get to understand, manage, master, deal with as an adept; to acquire the knack of. (orig. U.S. colloq.)
1845N. S. Prime Hist. Long Island 82 (Bartlett) After they have..acquired the hang of the tools for themselves. 1847Darley Drama in Pokerville 67 (Farmer) The theatre was cleared in an instant..all running to get the hang of the scrape. a1860T. Parker in J. Weiss Life (1864) II. 434, I..think I have got the hang of the people and their institutions. 1860O. W. Holmes Elsie V. xxii. (1892) 245 Your folks have never got the hang of human nature. 1881Spectator 12 Feb. 223 They..have not yet got the hang of good biography. 1883Crane Smithy & Forge 21 The hammer is one of those tools that the workman gets used to, or ‘gets the hang of’. 1890Daily Chron. 4 Apr. 7/2 He gets what some call ‘the hang’ of the place. 1895R. Kipling in Century Mag. Dec. 271/1 I'm getting the hang of the geography of that place. 1918War Illustr. 13 July 372/3 On the second day I had a ‘flip’ round the aerodrome to get the ‘hang’ of the country. 1931H. G. Wells Work, Wealth, & Happiness of Mankind (1932) 1 Never before has there been this need and desire to ‘get the hang’ of the world as one whole. 1957Listener 17 Oct. 606/1 Children..in their desire to get the hang of their surroundings.
4. concr. (dial.) Something that hangs or is suspended; a hanging mass or clump; a crop of fruit; a hang-net.
a1825Forby Voc. E. Anglia, Hang, a crop of fruit. ‘A good tidy hang of apples’. 1857Kingsley Two Y. Ago xxv, It might be..one of the ‘hangs’ with which the club⁓water was studded, torn up and stranded. 1873Act 36 & 37 Vict. c. 71 Sched. iii, License Duties for each..Weir, hang, baulk, garth, goryd, box, crib, or cruive..{pstlg}12. o. o.
5. not..a hang: an angry or impatient equivalent of ‘not a bit’, ‘not in the least’: usually with care. Cf. hang v. 3 d, damn n. 2.
1861H. Kingsley Ravenshoe xliii. (Farmer), She looks as well as you by candlelight, but she can't ride a hang. 1876‘Ouida’ Winter City vi. 125 She don't care a hang what anybody says of her.
6. (a) hang of a: an Australian and N.Z. intensive phrase, variously spelt (hangava, hanguva, etc., and in altered forms, e.g. hangashun), used informally, sometimes with adverbial force, of something big, bad, vexatious, etc., of its kind. Also like hang, like hell. Cf. hellishing, hellishun.
1941Baker N.Z. Slang vi. 51 Expressions..in constant use by our youngsters..hangava, hangashun. 1943J. A. W. Bennett in Amer. Speech XVIII 90 The intensives hanguva, hangershun. 1945F. Sargeson When Wind Blows ii. 14 They got down in a hang of a hurry. Ibid. iii. 16 All this was because Charlie was hang of a funny to be with. 1949Landfall III. 145 Gosh, Dad's hangava crabby with you! 1950B. Sutton-Smith Our Street ii. 33 It's a hang of a wet day. 1960N. Hilliard Maori Girl 64 It hurts like hang. |