hang out
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hang out
1. verb To dangle from a particular place or thing. Hey, your scarf is hanging out of your bag and dragging on the ground. Well, you'll never be able to zip your suitcase when there's a shirt sleeve hanging out of it! Hold on and let me get organized for a second. I can't walk into a meeting with papers dangling out of my files like this.
2. verb To display or show something. I'm surprised that Mom hasn't hung out the flag yet—the Fourth of July is next week. Yay, it's finally time to hang out the Christmas wreath! We need to hang out some balloons so people know where the party is.
3. verb To dangle or hang something out of something in particular. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "hang" and "out." We hung the sign out the window so our neighbors would see it. The dog hung his head out the car window and basked in the sunshine. How exactly am I supposed to sneak you into my bedroom? It's not like I can just hang a rope out my window!
4. verb To spend time with one. Chelsea and I used to hang out a lot more before she started dating Drew. Why are you always hanging out with that jerk? All he ever does is insult us! Tommy, these kids are known troublemakers—that's why I don't want you to hang out with them!
5. verb To spend time in a particular place or area, often regularly. All the kids from my school hang out at the pizza shop down the street. It's so annoying—we just want to play basketball, but high school boys are always hanging out on the courts, smoking and doing nothing. Kids today don't hang out at the mall like we used to, huh?
6. verb To engage in aimless recreation or frivolous time-wasting; to fool around. You need to stop hanging out with your friends and get your book report done. Tom spends most of his spare time hanging out in the workshop downstairs, fixing old clocks and radios that no one wants. Instead of working on my taxes, I just hung out for most of the afternoon. That was a waste.
7. verb To live somewhere. I've been hanging out in this part of the city for a few years now, so I'm ready to move on. Last I heard, Ed was hanging out in Paris. I can't hang out in the city anymore—I'm ready to move to the country for some peace and quiet.
8. noun A place that one regularly spends time in, often idly. In this usage, the phrase is usually written as one word. My treehouse has become the hangout for all the kids in the neighborhood. What's the go-to hangout for high schoolers now? I'm sure it's not the mall, like it was in my day. I haven't been back to my hometown in years. I'm sure most of my childhood hangouts have been demolished by now.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
hang (something) out (of something)
to suspend something outside of something while it is attached to the inside of something. He hung the rope out of the window so he could escape the burning building. She ran to the window and hung the rope out.
hang out
(some place)1. to spend time in a place habitually. Is this where you guys hang out all the time?
2. to spend time aimlessly; to waste time. Bill: What are you doing this afternoon? Tom: Oh, I'll just hang out. Kids hang out too much these days.
hang out
(of something) to be visibly coming out of something. Your shirt tail is hanging out of your pants. My shirttail was hanging out.
hang out
(with someone or something) to associate with someone or a group on a regular basis. She hangs out with Alice too much. I wish you would stop hanging out with that crowd of boys.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
hang out
1. Protrude downward, as in The dog's tongue was hanging out, or The branches hung out over the driveway. [c. 1400]
2. Display a flag or sign of some kind, as in They hung out the flag on every holiday. [Mid-1500s]
3. Reside, live, as in I've found a place downtown, and I'll be hanging out there beginning next week. [c. 1800]
4. Spend one's free time in; also, loiter, pass time idly. For example, They hung out around the pool parlor, or They spent the evening just hanging out. [Slang; mid-1900s]
5. hang out with. Keep company with, appear in public with, as in She's hanging out with her ex-boyfriend again. [Slang; second half of 1900s] Also see the subsequent idioms beginning with hang out; let it all hang out.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Idioms by Christine Ammer. Copyright © 2003, 1997 by The Christine Ammer 1992 Trust. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hang out
v.
1. To suspend something outdoors or in an exposed way: The maid hung the clothes out to dry. We hung the socks out on the clothesline. My shirttails were hanging out when I got there.
2. To spend time with someone or at some place: My friends and I hung out at the mall.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.
hangout
(ˈhæŋɑʊt) n. a place to loaf or hang (around). I dropped by one of his favorite hangouts, but he wasn’t there.
McGraw-Hill's Dictionary of American Slang and Colloquial Expressions Copyright © 2006 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc. All rights reserved.