hang

Webster's Dictionary (1913)

Origin: OE. hangen, hongien, v. t. & i., AS. hangian, v. i., fr. hōn, v. t. (imp. heng, p. p. hongen); akin to OS. hangōn, v. i., D. hangen, v. t. & i., G. hangen, v. i, hängen, v. t., Icel. hanga, v. i., Goth. hāhan, v. t. (imp. haíhah), hāhan, v. i. (imp. hahaida), and perh. to L. cunctari to delay. √37.

The use of hanged is preferable to that of hung, when reference is had to death or execution by suspension, and it is also more common.] ETY 1. To suspend; to fasten to some elevated point without support from below; — often used with up or out; as, to hang a coat on a hook; to hang up a sign; to hang out a banner.

2. To fasten in a manner which will allow of free motion upon the point or points of suspension; — said of a pendulum, a swing, a door, gate, etc.

3. To fit properly, as at a proper angle (a part of an implement that is swung in using), as a scythe to its snath, or an ax to its helve. US

4. To put to death by suspending by the neck; — a form of capital punishment; as, to hang a murderer.

5. To cover, decorate, or furnish by hanging pictures, trophies, drapery, and the like, or by covering with paper hangings; — said of a wall, a room, etc.

Hung be the heavens with black.— William Shakespeare

And hung thy holy roofs with savage spoils.— John Dryden

6. To paste, as paper hangings, on the walls of a room.

7. To hold or bear in a suspended or inclined manner or position instead of erect; to droop; as, he hung his head in shame.

Cowslips wan that hang the pensive head.— John Milton

8. To prevent from reaching a decision, esp. by refusing to join in a verdict that must be unanimous; as, one obstinate juror can hang a jury.

To hang down, to let fall below the proper position; to bend down; to decline; as, to hang down the head, or, elliptically, to hang the head. — To hang fire Military, to be slow in communicating fire through the vent to the charge; as, the gun hangs fire; hence, to hesitate, to hold back as if in suspense.

1. To be suspended or fastened to some elevated point without support from below; to dangle; to float; to rest; to remain; to stay.

2. To be fastened in such a manner as to allow of free motion on the point or points of suspension.

3. To die or be put to death by suspension from the neck. rare “Sir Balaam hangs.” Alexander Pope

4. To hold for support; to depend; to cling; — usually with on or upon; as, this question hangs on a single point. “Two infants hanging on her neck.” Henry Peacham

5. To be, or be like, a suspended weight.

Life hangs upon me, and becomes a burden.— Joseph Addison

6. To hover; to impend; to appear threateningly; — usually with over; as, evils hang over the country.

7. To lean or incline; to incline downward.

To decide which way hung the victory.— John Milton

His neck obliquely o'er his shoulder hung.— Alexander Pope

8. To slope down; as, hanging grounds.

9. To be undetermined or uncertain; to be in suspense; to linger; to be delayed.

A noble stroke he lifted high, Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell On the proud crest of Satan.— John Milton

10. Cricket, Tennis, etc. Of a ball: To rebound unexpectedly or unusually slowly, due to backward spin on the ball or imperfections of ground.

11. Baseball to fail to curve, break, or drop as intended; — said of pitches, such as curve balls or sliders.

12. Computers to cease to operate normally and remain suspended in some state without performing useful work; — said of computer programs, computers, or individual processes within a program; as, when using Windows 3.1, my system would hang and need rebooting several times a day. this situation could be caused by bugs within an operating system or within a program, or incompatibility between programs or between programs and the hardware.

To hang around, to loiter idly about. — To hang back, to hesitate; to falter; to be reluctant. “If any one among you hangs back.” Jowett (Thucyd.). — To hang by the eyelids. (a) To hang by a very slight hold or tenure. (b) To be in an unfinished condition; to be left incomplete. — To hang in doubt, to be in suspense. — To hang on (with the emphasis on the preposition), to keep hold; to hold fast; to stick; to be persistent, as a disease. — To hang on the lips To hang on the words, etc., to be charmed by eloquence. — To hang out. (a) To be hung out so as to be displayed; to project. (b) To be unyielding; as, the juryman hangs out against an agreement; to hold out. colloquial (c) to loiter or lounge around a particular place; as, teenageers tend to hang out at the mall these days. — To hang over. (a) To project at the top. (b) To impend over. — To hang to, to cling. — To hang together. (a) To remain united; to stand by one another. “We are all of a piece; we hang together.” John Dryden (b) To be self-consistent; as, the story does not hang together. colloquial — To hang upon. (a) To regard with passionate affection. (b) Military To hover around; as, to hang upon the flanks of a retreating enemy.

1. The manner in which one part or thing hangs upon, or is connected with, another; as, the hang of a scythe.

2. Connection; arrangement; plan; as, the hang of a discourse. colloquial

3. A sharp or steep declivity or slope. colloquial

To get the hang of, to learn the method or arrangement of; hence, to become accustomed to. colloquial

Webster’s Revised Unabridged Dictionary (1913), from GCIDE 0.54 · with additions: 1913 supplement, GCIDE editors

Free On-line Dictionary of Computing

1.To wait for an event that will never occur. "The system is hanging because it can't read from the crashed drive". See wedged, hung.

2.To wait for some event to occur; to hang around until something happens. "The program displays a menu and then hangs until you type a character." Compare block.

3.To attach a peripheral device, especially in the construction "hang off": "We're going to hang another tape drive off the file server." Implies a device attached with cables, rather than something that is strictly inside the machine's chassis.

The Jargon File

1.[very common] To wait for an event that will never occur. “The system is hanging because it can't read from the crashed drive”. See wedged, hung .

2.To wait for some event to occur; to hang around until something happens. “The program displays a menu and then hangs until you type a character.” Compare block.

3.To attach a peripheral device, esp. in the construction ‘hang off’: “ We're going to hang another tape drive off the file server.” Implies a device attached with cables, rather than something that is strictly inside the machine's chassis.