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Hang on   /hæŋ ɑn/   Listen
verb
Hang  v. i.  (past & past part. hung; pres. part. hanging)  
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. (R.) "Sir Balaam hangs."
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."
5.
To be, or be like, a suspended weight. "Life hangs upon me, and becomes a burden."
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." "His neck obliquely o'er his shoulder hung."
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."
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. Note: 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."
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. (Colloq.)
(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."
(b)
To be self-consistent; as, the story does not hang together. (Colloq.)
To hang upon.
(a)
To regard with passionate affection.
(b)
(Mil.) To hover around; as, to hang upon the flanks of a retreating enemy.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Hang on" Quotes from Famous Books



... "Hang on by your eyelids, Sis! but don't stir for Heaven's sake!" shouted one of the men, as two others started on a hopeless ascent ...
— The Queen of the Pirate Isle • Bret Harte

... the sun or stars, but by any "clock"—that is, by any recurrent rhythm taken as a standard of comparison. It would seem that the existence and energy of each chosen centre, as well as its career and encounters, hang on the collateral existence of other centres of force, among which it must wend its way: yet the only witness to their presence, and the only known property of their substance, is their "radio-activity", or the physical light ...
— Some Turns of Thought in Modern Philosophy - Five Essays • George Santayana

... left its mark on the memory of both the young man and woman had, when looked at quite sensibly, been rather stupidly spent. They had walked out of town along a country road. Then they had stopped by a fence near a field of young corn and George had taken off his coat and let it hang on his arm. "Well, I've stayed here in Winesburg—yes—I've not yet gone away but I'm growing up," he had said. "I've been reading books and I've been thinking. I'm going to try to ...
— Winesburg, Ohio • Sherwood Anderson

... or alliances which stand instead of it. You have superseded a woman who more than any other could have a claim to your good fortune: she is sister to the prime minister, who has in her train, like Lucifer, more than a third part of heaven, for all the courtiers hang on her brother. "On the other hand, we are not accustomed to remain so long in opposition to the will of the king. Such a resistance is not natural to us; it weighs upon us, it harms us, the favor of our master being our chief good. We ...
— "Written by Herself" • Baron Etienne Leon Lamothe-Langon

... ready, and one end handed to her. She fastened it securely about her waist, and, warning the others to hang on for dear life, she began to crawl ...
— Caps and Capers - A Story of Boarding-School Life • Gabrielle E. Jackson


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