hang out

phrasal verb

5 meanings of hang out

1
with friendsphrasal verbslangidiomaticintransitive
To spend time with someone, or to meet up with them regularly.
We used to hang out with the kids from next door every summer.
A few teenagers were hanging out in the parking lot when the store closed.
Similarsocialize
Note
The phrase lives in relaxed, spoken English. It usually takes with for the company (he hung out with his friends) or a place for the setting (young men hanging out on a bridge), and go hang out works as a whole invitation: do you want to go hang out? In formal writing, spend time with is the safer choice.
2
danglephrasal verbtransitive or intransitive
To dangle from or stick out of something, or to put something up outdoors, in the plain, literal senses of hang and out.
On parade day, flags hang out of every window along Main Street.
She hung out the laundry an hour before the rain started.
3
live somewherephrasal verbslangidiomaticintransitive
To lodge or live somewhere; more loosely, to be located or to exist.
Until the lease starts, I'm hanging out on my sister's couch.
The settings files hang out in a hidden folder that most users never open.
Similarstay, crash, live, sit
Note
In this sense, asking where someone hangs out means asking where they are staying, and Dickens gets a joke from it in The Pickwick Papers (1836–37): Mr. Pickwick replies that he is at present "suspended" at the George and Vulture, taking hang at its word. Context decides whether the place you hang out is your home or only where you spend time.
4
want badlyphrasal verbcolloquialintransitive
To crave something or want it desperately.
By the end of the hike, we were all hanging out for a hot shower.
Fans who hang out for a new album sometimes wait years between releases.
Similarlong, yearn, crave

Less common meaning

5
stand firmphrasal verbdatedintransitive
To stand firm and refuse to give way; to hold out.
The last tenant hung out against the developers long after her neighbors had sold.
Few strikers could afford to hang out against the company once winter came.
Note
Older informal English used this where we now say hold out, and it behaves the same way: it can stand alone or take against, as when a juryman hangs out against an agreement. Readers who know only the social meaning can stumble on it in older writing, where it means refusing to give way, not spending time with anyone.

Practice

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