# hanging

Pronunciation: say "HANG-ing" /ˈhæŋ.ɪŋ/

## Adjective

1. Fastened at the top so that the rest dangles freely without support below.
   - Simple: Held in the air from a point above, not resting on the ground below.
   - _The hanging vines covered the entire garden wall._
   - _Workers repaired the hanging scaffold outside the office tower._
6. Of a chess piece, unprotected and open to capture by the opponent.
   - Simple: A chess piece left open for the other player to capture for free.
   - _Black overlooked the hanging pawn and lost it for nothing._
   - _Leaving a piece hanging that early usually costs the game._
7. Of a pitch, badly thrown by the pitcher and therefore easy for the batter to hit. *(slang)*
   - Simple: A pitch thrown badly, so it is easy for the batter to hit.
   - _He crushed the hanging slider for a three-run homer._
   - _The reliever left a curveball hanging and paid for it._
8. Of a person, ugly and very unattractive, to the point of being disgusting. *(slang, UK)*
   - Simple: Describing a person who is very ugly or unattractive, even disgusting.
   - _Everyone in the pub agreed that the bloke chatting her up was hanging._
   - _Honestly, mate, your ex was hanging, and you can do much better._
9. Of text or an element, extending past the normal margins of a page.
   - Simple: Sticking out past the edge of the printed page.
   - _The bibliography used a hanging indent to set off each entry._
   - _Hanging punctuation pushes commas slightly beyond the right margin for a cleaner edge._

## Noun

2. The act of killing a person, or oneself, by suspension from the neck with a rope.
   - Simple: A way of putting someone to death by tying a rope around the neck and letting the body drop.
   - _The judge sentenced the convicted man to death by hanging._
   - _Several hangings took place in the prison yard that year._
4. A decorative object that is hung up, such as a curtain, tapestry, or poster.
   - Simple: A piece of cloth, picture, or poster put up to decorate a wall.
   - _An embroidered hanging decorated the entrance hall._
   - _The museum displayed medieval hangings woven with gold thread._
5. The manner in which decorative pieces are positioned and displayed on a wall or in a room.
   - Simple: The way decorations are placed and arranged on the walls.
   - _The curator's hanging arranged the portraits by historical period._
   - _An asymmetrical hanging gave the salon a modern feel._

## Verb

3. Present participle of hang. — present participle and gerund of hang
   - Simple: Present participle of hang. Use this form for an action happening right now.
   - _The crew is hanging banners across the street._
   - _Volunteers spent hours hanging posters around town._

## Origin

From Middle English hangynge or honginge, equivalent to hang plus the suffix -ing, comparable to Old English hengen and hōhing, both meaning 'hanging'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/hanging (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).