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hanging
hanging offense
A crime, misdeed, or impropriety that is (hyperbolically) perceived to warrant death by hanging. Primarily heard in US. Political correctness has become so authoritarian these days that saying anything with even the slightest derogatory implication is seen as a hanging offense!
hang by the eyelids
To have a loose grip on something. Can be used either literally or figuratively. For the tug-of-war, don't just hang by the eyelids, gentlemen! Really get a secure grip on the rope and keep a strong stance! I currently have a D in this class, but I'm just hanging by the eyelids—I really need to get a tutor.
hang on (one's) sleeve
To be totally reliant on someone else. You're 30 years old, so stop hanging on your mother's sleeve and get a job already! I know my kids are too young to be self-sufficient, but sometimes I just need a night without anyone hanging on my sleeve.
hang (up) (one's) hat
To live somewhere; to take up residence. I'm originally from the East Coast, but I hang my hat in San Francisco these days. I've been traveling around the world for so long that it feels strange to finally have a place to hang up my hat.
hang up (one's) hatchet
1. To make peace with someone. It is most likely an earlier version of the phrase "bury the hatchet." Can you please hang up your hatchet and make up with your sister already? I can't take the constant fighting.
2. To take a break from work; to stop working. Hang up your hatchet, buddy, it's lunchtime! It's really time for me to hang up my hatchet and find a new job somewhere else.
hang up (one's) boots
To retire from playing a sport. After suffering so many injuries on the field, I think it's time for him to hang up his boots.
hang up (one's) fiddle
To retire from something. I've been at the company for 30 years, so it's time for me to hang up my fiddle.
hang up (one's) spurs
To stop doing something; to retire from something. I've been at the company for 30 years, so it's time for me to hang up my spurs. You're an adult now, and you can't stay out all weekend—it's time to hang up your spurs and ditch the party scene.
hang up
1. verb To disconnect a phone call. The term is often used to mean to end the call in the middle of the conversation, but it can also mean to disconnect the call when it is finished. Don't you dare hang up on me, I'm not done issuing my complaint! I can't hear you anymore, it must be a bad signal. I'm going to hang up now, so call me back if you can hear this.
2. noun (usually hyphenated) A disconnected phone call. The phone's been ringing all day, but it's just been a bunch of hang-ups. I think someone's pranking us.
3. noun (usually hyphenated) An impediment of some kind, usually an emotional or psychological insecurity, that prevents a person from making progress in a situation. Jeff's personal hang-up is that he always felt like his parents supported his brother more than they supported him.
the noose is hanging
Preparations are complete. The phrase originally referred to public executions, and so it sometimes implies that an audience is assembled for whatever has been prepared. The actors are here, the stage is set, and the auditorium is filled. The noose is hanging, people—it's time to start Act I. I prepped the lab for the experiment, so the noose is hanging, whenever you want to begin.
be hanging over (one)
To be a source of lingering concern or worry. All these bills are hanging over me, and I don't get paid for another week. I'm so glad that exam is over—it's been hanging over me for months.
be left hanging (in the air/in midair)
To remain unresolved or unaddressed. I don't think he's very knowledgeable on this topic—my very basic question was left hanging in the air.
a sword of Damocles hangs over (one's) head
One is faced with imminent danger or trouble. In Greek mythology, the courtier Damocles was forced to sit beneath a sword suspended by a single hair to emphasize the instability of a king's fortunes. I know his history of violent behavior, so I feel like a sword of Damocles hangs over my head whenever I'm alone with him. With the threat of nuclear war, many feel that a sword of Damocles hangs over the world's head.
hang something up
to return the telephone receiver to its cradle. (See also
hang it up.)
Please hang this up when I pick up the other phone. Please hang up the phone.hang up
. 1. [for a machine or a computer] to grind to a halt; to stop because of some internal complication. Our computer hung up right in the middle of printing the report. I was afraid that my computer would hang up permanently.
2. to replace the telephone receiver after a call; to terminate a telephone call. I said good-bye and hung up. Please hang up and place your call again.
hang up
(on someone or something) 1. and hang up (in someone's ear) to end a telephone call by returning the receiver to the cradle while the other party is still talking. She hung up on me! I had to hang up on all that rude talk.
2. to give up on someone or something; to quit dealing with someone or something. Finally, I had to hang up on Jeff. I can't depend on him for anything. We hung up on them because we knew we couldn't make a deal.
have something hanging over one's head
Fig. to have something bothering or worrying one; to have a deadline worrying one. I keep worrying about my old car breaking down. I hate to have something like that hanging over my head. I have a history paper that is hanging over my head.
leave someone or something hanging (in midair)
and keep someone or something hanging (in midair) 1. Lit. to keep someone or something suspended in midair when support for the person or thing is removed. The ladder collapsed and left me hanging in midair. Fortunately, I grabbed onto the windowsill.
2. Fig. to suspend dealing with someone or something; to leave someone or something waiting to be finished or continued. She left her sentence hanging in midair. Tell me the rest of the story. Don't leave me hanging in midair.
low-hanging fruit
Fig. the easiest person(s) to sell something to, to convince of something, or to fool. (From the much older easy pickings.) People who always want to be the first to buy something, they're low-hanging fruit for this product. Don't be satisfied with the low-hanging fruit. Go after the hard-sell types.
stand there with one's bare face hanging out
Rur. to stand some place looking helpless and stupid. Say something. Don't just stand there with your bare face hanging out. she just stood there with her bare face hanging out while they took away everything she owned.
hang up
to end a telephone connection I can't think of his name, but it'll come to me as soon as we hang up.
have something hanging over your head
to be worried about something you have to do I hate having all those bills hanging over my head.
leave somebody hanging
to keep someone waiting for a decision or answer (leave somebody to) twist in the wind I was left hanging for three weeks before I got a call offering me the job.
leave something hanging
to delay making a decision about something We don't know if we can buy the house yet because the bank left our loan application hanging.
Related vocabulary: up in the airbe hanging over you
also be hanging over your head if something is hanging over you, it is causing you to worry all the time He's got financial worries hanging over him too which can't make life any easier.
See be left hangingbe left hanging (in the air/in midair)
if a problem or question is left hanging in the air, it is not dealt with or answered We failed to resolve the issue at the last meeting and it was left hanging in the air.
hang up
1. Suspend on a hook or hanger, as in Let me hang up your coat for you. [c. 1300]
2. Also, hang up on. Replace a telephone receiver in its cradle; end a phone conversation. For example, She hung up the phone, or He hung up on her. [Early 1900s]
3. Delay or hinder; also, become halted or snagged, as in Budget problems hung up the project for months, or Traffic was hung up for miles. [Second half of 1800s]
4. Have or cause to have emotional difficulties, as in Being robbed at gunpoint can hang one up for years to come. [Slang; early 1900s]
5. hung up on. Obsessed with, as in For years the FBI was hung up on Communist spies. [First half of 1900s]
6. hang up one's sword or gloves or fiddle . Quit, retire, as in He's hanging up his sword next year and moving to Florida. The noun in these expressions refers to the profession one is leaving- sword for the military, gloves for boxing, and fiddle for music-but they all are used quite loosely as well, as in the example.
7. hang up one's hat. Settle somewhere, reside, as in "Eight hundred a year, and as nice a house as any gentleman could wish to hang up his hat in" (Anthony Trollope, The Warden, 1855).
leave hanging
Also, leave hanging in the air or in midair . Keep undecided, uncertain, or in suspense. For example, Since we hadn't found a big enough hall, we left the final date hanging, or She couldn't figure out a good ending for the book, so her audience was left hanging in midair .
hang up
v.1. To suspend something on a hook or hanger: Please hang your jacket up in the closet. I hung up my bathrobe on the hook.
2. To replace a telephone receiver on its base or cradle: I hung up the phone and returned to my chores. Will you hang that phone up and get back to your homework?
3. To end a telephone conversation: I said goodbye to my mother and hung up.
4. To delay or impede something; hinder something: Budget problems hung up the project for months. Squabbling hung the contract talks up for weeks.
5. To become snagged or hindered: The fishing line hung up on a rock.
6. To stop doing or participating in some activity: They are planning to hang up their law practice after 40 years. Trying to find your keys in the snow is a lost cause—you might as well hang it up.
7. Slang To have emotional difficulties or inhibitions. Used passively: If you weren't so hung up about your job, you'd be more fun to be around.
8. Slang To be obsessed or consumed with something. Used passively: I'm still hung up on that sale I missed last week.
hang up
1. n. a problem or concern; an obsession. (Usually hang-up.) She’s got some serious hang-ups about cats.
2. in. to say no; to cancel out of something. If you don’t want to do it, just hang up. I’ll understand.
How(’re) they hanging?
and How’s it hanging? interrog. an inquiry calling for a report on (1) they, the state of a male’s testicles, (2) it the state of a male’s penis. You’re looking okay. How’re they hanging? Hey, dude! How’s it hanging?
How’s it hanging?
verbHow they hanging?
verbstand there with one’s bare face hanging out
in. to stand someplace looking helpless and stupid. Say something. Don’t just stand there with your bare face hanging out.