hanger

See also: Hanger, hangër, and hänger

English

Etymology 1

From Middle English hanger, haunger, hangere, equivalent to hang +‎ -er. Compare West Frisian hinger (“hanger”), Dutch hanger (“hanger”), German Hänger and Henker.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhæŋ.ə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhæŋ.ɚ/
  • (æ-tensing) IPA^(key): [ˈheɪŋ.ɚ]

• Audio (General Australian):

  (file)

• Rhymes: -æŋə(ɹ)
• Homophone: hangar

Noun

hanger (plural hangers)

1. One who hangs, or causes to be hanged; a hangman, paper hanger, etc.
2. A person who attempts suicide by hanging.
   • 2017, Ronald V. Clarke, Suicide: Closing the Exits:

     With the jumpers and the drowners, McGee, you don't pick up a pattern. That's because a jumper damned near always makes it the first time, and a drowner is usually almost as successful, about the same rate as hangers.

3. That by which a thing is suspended.
   1. A strap hung to the girdle, by which a dagger or sword is suspended.
   2. A bridle iron.
   3. A clothes hanger.
4. (now historical) A short and broad backsword, worn so to hang at the side, especially popular in the 18th century.
   • 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:

     [H]is shoulder was graced with a broad buff belt, from whence depended a huge hanger with a hilt like that of a backsword […] .

   • 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 4, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:

     I made an offer to go for my books and chest of clothes, but he swore I should not move out of his sight; and if I did he would cut my throat, at the same time taking his hanger.

   • 1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle:

     He was a stout old gentleman, with a weather-beaten countenance; he wore a laced doublet, broad belt and hanger, high-crowned hat and feather, red stockings, and high-heeled shoes, with roses in them.

   • 2012, Jerry White, London in the Eighteenth Century, Bodley Head, published 2017, page 440:

     When he called ‘Watch!’ they cut him on the head with a hanger or short cutlass and fired a pistol so close to his face he was thought to be powder-burned for life.

5. (UK) A steep, wooded slope.
   • 1789, Gilbert White, The Natural History of Selborne, Page 187:

     About the tenth of July in the same Summer a pair of sparrow-hawks bred in an old crow's nest on a low beech in the same hanger; and as their brood, which was numerous, began to grow up, became so daring and ravenous, that they were a terror to all the dames in the village that had chickens or ducklings under their care.

   • 1896, A. E. Housman, A Shropshire Lad, On Wenlock Edge the wood's in trouble:

     'Twould blow like this through holt and hanger

6. (baseball, slang) A hanging pitch; a pitch (typically a breaking ball or slider) that is poorly executed, hence easy to hit.
7. (Australian rules football, informal) Synonym of spectacular mark
8. (climbing) A device secured by a bolt and used to attach a carabiner.
   • 2012, Christine Dugan, Defying Gravity! Rock Climbing, page 37:

     Climbers use anchors or bolts that are already placed in the rock. They clip onto them with metal hangers. Climbers don't need to place the anchors themselves, so they can focus on making the difficult climbing moves.

   • 2021, John Long, Bob Gaines, Rock Climbing: The Art of Safe Ascent, page 118:

     In marine areas (sea cliffs), even stainless steel bolts and hangers corrode rapidly.

Usage notes

Not to be confused with hangar (a garage-like building for airplanes).

Derived terms

• a hanger and a flogger
• apehanger
• bottle hanger
• busy as a one-armed paper hanger
• casing hanger
• cliff-hanger
• cliff hanger
• coat-hanger
• door hanger
• hanger and flogger
• hanger-on
• hanger on
• hanger steak
• monkey hanger
• on-hanger
• onhanger
• paperhanger
• post hanger
• wall hanger

Translations

hangman — see hangman

that by which a thing is suspended

Armenian: կախիչ (hy) (kaxičʻ) Bulgarian: закачалка (bg) f (zakačalka) Finnish: ripustin, kannatin (fi) German: Kleiderbügel (de) m

strap hung to the girdle, by which a dagger or sword is suspended

Finnish: kannatin (fi)

bridle iron — see bridle iron

clothes hanger

Albanian: jatagan (sq) f Arabic: شَمَّاعَة f (šammāʕa) Armenian: կեռիկ (hy) (keṙik), կախիչ (hy) (kaxičʻ) Azerbaijani: asqı (az) Basque: esekitokia Bulgarian: закачалка (bg) f (zakačalka) Carpathian Rusyn: віша́к m (višák) Catalan: perxa (ca) f Chinese: Mandarin: 衣架 (zh) (yījià) Czech: ramínko Danish: bøjle (da) c Dutch: kleerhanger (nl) m, knaapje (nl) n Faroese: akslatræ n Finnish: vaateripustin (fi), henkari (fi) French: cintre (fr) m German: Bügel (de) m Gujarati: ટિંગણિયું (ṭiṅgṇiyũ) Hungarian: vállfa (hu), akasztó (hu) Indonesian: gantungan (id) Italian: gruccia (it), appendino (it) m Japanese: ハンガー (ja) (hangā), 衣紋掛け (ja) (えもんかけ, emonkake) (hanger or rack for traditional clothes) Korean: 옷걸이 (ko) (otgeori), 걸이 (geori) Malay: gantungan (ms), penyangkut Mongolian: Cyrillic: өлгүүр (mn) (ölgüür) Mongolian: ᠡᠯᠭᠦᠭᠦᠷ (elgügür) Polish: wieszak (pl) m Portuguese: cabide (pt) m Romanian: cuier (ro) f Russian: ве́шалка (ru) f (véšalka), пле́чики (ru) n pl (pléčiki) Serbo-Croatian: vešalica (sh) f, vješalica (sh) f Slovak: vešiak m Spanish: percha (es) f, gancho (es) m, perchero (es) m Tagalog: sabitan Turkish: askı (tr) Uzbek: kiyin osgich Vietnamese: móc (vi)

that which hangs or is suspended

short, curved sword

Bulgarian: кортик m (kortik) Finnish: hukari

steep, wooded slope

Finnish: metsäinen jyrkänne

baseball: hanging pitch

Finnish: roikkusyöttö

Etymology 2

Blend of hunger +‎ anger.

Pronunciation

• (Received Pronunciation) IPA^(key): /ˈhaŋɡə/
• (General American) IPA^(key): /ˈhæŋɡɚ/
• Rhymes: -æŋɡə(ɹ)

Noun

hanger (uncountable)

1. (slang) Hunger and anger, especially when the anger is induced by the hunger.
   • 2015, Amanda Salis, “The science behind being "Hangry"”, in CNN "The conversation"‎:

     The physiology of hanger. The carbohydrates, proteins and fats in everything you eat are digested into simple sugars (such as glucose), amino acids and free fatty acids. These nutrients pass into your bloodstream from where they are distributed to your organs and tissues and used for energy […]

Related terms

• hangry

Anagrams

• Hagner, Rhegan, rehang

Cebuano

Etymology

Borrowed from English hanger, from Middle English hanger, haunger, hangere, equivalent to hang +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Hyphenation: ha‧nger

Noun

hanger

1. hanger; coat hanger; clothes hanger

Dutch

Etymology

From hangen +‎ -er.

Pronunciation

• Audio:

  (file)

• Hyphenation: han‧ger
• Rhymes: -ɑŋər

Noun

hanger m (plural hangers, diminutive hangertje n)

1. hanger
2. pendant

Descendants

• → Indonesian: hanger

Indonesian

Etymology

From Dutch hanger.

Pronunciation

• IPA^(key): [ˈhaŋər]
• Hyphenation: hang‧êr

Noun

hangêr (plural hanger-hanger)

1. (colloquial) clothes hanger.

Further reading

• “hanger” in Kamus Besar Bahasa Indonesia, Jakarta: Agency for Language Development and Cultivation – Ministry of Education, Culture, Research, and Technology of the Republic of Indonesia, 2016.

Middle English

Noun

hanger

1. Alternative form of anger

Romanian

Etymology

Borrowed from Ottoman Turkish خنجر (hancer), from Persian خنجر (xanjar).

Noun

hanger n (plural hangere)

1. dagger

Declension

Declension of hanger

	singular			plural
	indefinite	definite		indefinite	definite
nominative-accusative	hanger	hangerul		hangere	hangerele
genitive-dative	hanger	hangerului		hangere	hangerelor
vocative	hangerule			hangerelor

Tagalog

Etymology

Borrowed from English hanger.

Pronunciation

• (Standard Tagalog) IPA^(key): /ˈhaŋeɾ/ [ˈhaː.ŋɛɾ]
• Rhymes: -aŋeɾ
• Syllabification: ha‧nger

Noun

hanger (Baybayin spelling ᜑᜅᜒᜇ᜔)

1. hanger; coat hanger; clothes hanger

   Synonym: pansampay

Further reading

• “hanger”, in Pambansang Diksiyonaryo | Diksiyonaryo.ph, Manila, 2018