hanging

The word “hanging” means suspended or dangling from something. In plain terms, something suspended from above, or (as a noun) an execution by the neck.

“Hanging” is pronounced HANG-ihng (/ˈhæŋ.ɪŋ/ in IPA).

Here is “hanging” used in a sentence: “Hanging baskets of flowers lined the porch.”

Depending on how it is used, “hanging” can be an adjective and a noun.

“Hanging” is a fairly common word in modern English, usually learned at around the B1 level.

“Hanging” has 3 distinct senses listed in this dictionary. The most common is: suspended or dangling from something.

Think of a hanging basket of flowers, a hanging light over a table, or the famous Hanging Gardens of Babylon. In each phrase, 'hanging' tells you the thing is suspended from above rather than resting on the ground. It describes the object's fixed, dangling position.

Both mean suspended, but 'dangling' adds a sense of loose, uncontrolled swinging, like a dangling thread or shoelace. 'Hanging' is broader and often more deliberate: a hanging picture is fixed in place, not swinging. So all dangling things are hanging, but not everything hanging dangles freely.

Yes. A 'hanging question' or a matter 'left hanging' is one still unresolved, as if suspended in mid-air. A 'cliffhanger' leaves an audience dangling in suspense. These uses borrow the literal image of something suspended and unsettled, applying it to situations that have not yet come to rest.