Emily Dickinson Lexicon

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.