Emily Dickinson Lexicon

HAND'VISE, n.

A vise used by hand, or for small work. – Moxon.

HAND'WEAP-ON, n.

Any weapon to be wielded by the hand. – Numb. xxxv.

HAND'-WING-ED, a.

A literal translation into English of the technical term cheiropterous, a term in natural history, used in application to the family of bats. Kirby.

HAND'WORK, n.

Work done by the hands. [Obs.]

HAND'WRIT-ING, n.

1. The cast or form of writing peculiar to each hand or person. – Shak.
2. Any writing.

HAND'Y, a. [D. handig, behendig; Dan. hændig; from hand.]

1. Performed by the hand. They came to handy blows. [Obs.] – Knolles.
2. Dextrous; ready; adroit; skilled to use the hands with ease in performance; applied to persons. He is handy with the saw or the plane. Each is handy in his way. – Dryden.
3. Ingenious; performing with skill and readiness.
4. Ready to the hand; near. My books are very handy.
5. Convenient; suited to the use of the hand.
6. Near; that may be used without difficulty or going to a distance. We have a spring or pasture that is handy.

HAND'Y-DAN-DY, n.

A play in which children change hands and places. Shak.

HANG, n.

A sharp declivity. [Colloquial.]

HANG, v.i.

1. To be suspended; to be sustained by something above, so as to swing or be movable below.
2. To dangle; to be loose and flowing below.
3. To bend forward or downward; to lean or incline. His neck obliquely o'er his shoulder hung. Pope.
4. To float; to play. And fall those sayings from that gentle tongue, / Where civil speech and soft persuasion hung. Prior.
5. To be supported by something raised above the ground; as, a hanging garden on the top of a house. Addison.
6. To depend; to rest on something for support. This question hangs on a single point.
7. To rest on by embracing; to cling to; as, to hang on the neck of a person. Two infants hanging on her neck. Peacham.
8. To hover; to impend; with over. View the dangers that hang over the country.
9. To be delayed; to linger. A noble stroke he lifted high Which hung not. Milton.
10. To incline; to have a steep declivity; as, hanging grounds. Mortimer.
11. To be executed by the halter. Sir Balaam hangs. Pope. To hang fire, in the military art, is to be slow in communicating, as fire in the pan of a gun to the charge. To hang on, to adhere to, often as something troublesome and unwelcome. A cheerful temper dissipates the apprehensions which hang on the timorous. Addison. #2. To adhere obstinately; to be importunate. #3. To rest; to reside; to continue. #4. To be dependent on. How wretched / Is that poor man that hangs on princes' favors! Shak. #5. In seamen's language, to hold fast without belaying; to pull forcibly. To hang in doubt, to be in suspense, or in a state of uncertainty. Thy life shall hang in doubt before thee. Deut xxviii. To hang together, to be closely united; to cling. In the common cause we are all of a piece; we hang together. Dryden. #2. To be just united, so as barely to hold together. Shak. To hang on or upon, to drag; to be incommodiously joined. Life hangs upon me and becomes a burden. Addison. To hang to, to adhere closely; to cling.

HANG, v.t. [pret. and pp. hanged or hung. Sax. hangan; Sw. hänga; Dan. hænger; G. and D. hangen; W. hongian, to hang; hong, a hanging or dangling; honc, a shake, a wagging; honcaw, to shake, wag, stagger, to waver. The latter seems to be the primary sense.]

1. To suspend; to fasten to some fixed object above, in such a manner as to swing or move; as, to hang a thief. Pharaoh hanged the chief baker. Hence,
2. To put to death by suspending by the neck. Many men would rebel, rather than be ruined; but they would rather not rebel than be hanged. Ames.
3. To place without any solid support or foundation. He hangeth the earth upon nothing. Job xxxvi.
4. To fix in such a manner as to be movable; as, to hang a door or grate on hooks or by butts.
5. To cover or furnish by any thing suspended or fastened to the walls; as, to hang an apartment with curtains or with pictures. Hung be the heavens with black. Shak. And hung thy holy roofs with savage spoils. Dryden. To hang out, to suspend in open view; to display; to exhibit to notice; as, to hang out false colors. #2. To hang abroad; to suspend in the open air. To hang over, to project or cause to project above. To hang down, to let fall below the proper situation; to bend down; to decline; as, to hang down the head, and elliptically, to hang the head. To hang up, to suspend; to place on something fixed on high. #2. To suspend; to keep or suffer to remain undecided; as, to hang up, a question in debate.

HANG'BY, n.

A dependent, in contempt. Ray.

HANG'ED, pp.

Suspended; put to death by being suspended by the neck.

HANG'ER, n.

1. That by which a thing is suspended.
2. A short broad sword, incurvated toward the point. Smollett.
3. One that hangs, or causes to be hanged. Aubrey.

HANG'ER-ON, n.

1. One who besets another importunately in soliciting favors.
2. A dependent; one who eats and drinks without payment. Swift.

HANG'ING, n.

1. Any kind of drapery hung or fastened to the walls of a room, by way of ornament. No purple hangings clothe the palace walls. Dryden.
2. Death by the halter; as, hard words or hanging. Pope.
3. Display; exhibition. Addison.

HANG'ING, ppr.

1. Suspending to something above.
2. Being suspended; dangling; swinging.
3. adj. Foreboding death by the halter. What a hanging face! Dryden.
4. Requiring punishment by the halter; as, a hanging matter. Johnson.

HANG'ING-SIDE, n.

In mining, the overhanging side of an inclined or hading vein. Cyc.

HANG'ING-SLEEVES, n.

Strips of the same stuff with the gown, hanging down the back from the shoulders. [Obs.] Halifax.

HANG'MAN, n.

One who hangs another; a public executioner; also, a term of reproach.

HANG'NAIL, n.

A corruption of the word Agnail; the same as Agnail.

HANG'NEST, n.

The name of certain species of birds, which build nests suspended from the branches of trees, such as the Baltimore oriole or red-bird; also, the nest so suspended.

HANK, n. [Dan. hank, a handle, a hook, a tack, a clasp; Sw. hank, a band.]

1. A skain of thread; as much thread as is tied together; a tie.
2. In ships, a wooden ring fixed to a stay, to confine the stay-sails; used in the place of a grommet. Mar. Dict.
3. A rope or withy for fastening a gate. [Local.]

HANK, v.t.

To form into hanks.

HANK'ER, v.i. [D. hunkeren. The corresponding word in Danish is higer, and probably n is casual.]

1. To long for with a keen appetite and uneasiness; in a literal sense; as, to hanker for fruit, or after fruit.
2. To have a vehement desire of something, accompanied with uneasiness; as, to hanker after the diversions of the town. Addison. It is usually followed by after. It is a familiar, but not a low word.

HANK'ER-ING, n.

A keen appetite that causes uneasiness till it is gratified; vehement desire to possess or enjoy.