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Hang back   /hæŋ bæk/   Listen
verb
Hang  v. i.  (past & past part. hung; pres. part. hanging)  
1.
To be suspended or fastened to some elevated point without support from below; to dangle; to float; to rest; to remain; to stay.
2.
To be fastened in such a manner as to allow of free motion on the point or points of suspension.
3.
To die or be put to death by suspension from the neck. (R.) "Sir Balaam hangs."
4.
To hold for support; to depend; to cling; usually with on or upon; as, this question hangs on a single point. "Two infants hanging on her neck."
5.
To be, or be like, a suspended weight. "Life hangs upon me, and becomes a burden."
6.
To hover; to impend; to appear threateningly; usually with over; as, evils hang over the country.
7.
To lean or incline; to incline downward. "To decide which way hung the victory." "His neck obliquely o'er his shoulder hung."
8.
To slope down; as, hanging grounds.
9.
To be undetermined or uncertain; to be in suspense; to linger; to be delayed. "A noble stroke he lifted high, Which hung not, but so swift with tempest fell On the proud crest of Satan."
10.
(Cricket, Tennis, etc.) Of a ball: To rebound unexpectedly or unusually slowly, due to backward spin on the ball or imperfections of ground.
11.
(Baseball) To fail to curve, break, or drop as intended; said of pitches, such as curve balls or sliders.
12.
(Computers) To cease to operate normally and remain suspended in some state without performing useful work; said of computer programs, computers, or individual processes within a program; as, when using Windows 3.1, my system would hang and need rebooting several times a day. Note: this situation could be caused by bugs within an operating system or within a program, or incompatibility between programs or between programs and the hardware.
To hang around, to loiter idly about.
To hang back, to hesitate; to falter; to be reluctant. "If any one among you hangs back."
To hang by the eyelids.
(a)
To hang by a very slight hold or tenure.
(b)
To be in an unfinished condition; to be left incomplete.
To hang in doubt, to be in suspense.
To hang on (with the emphasis on the preposition), to keep hold; to hold fast; to stick; to be persistent, as a disease.
To hang on the lips To hang on the words, etc., to be charmed by eloquence.
To hang out.
(a)
To be hung out so as to be displayed; to project.
(b)
To be unyielding; as, the juryman hangs out against an agreement; to hold out. (Colloq.)
(c)
to loiter or lounge around a particular place; as, teenageers tend to hang out at the mall these days.
To hang over.
(a)
To project at the top.
(b)
To impend over.
To hang to, to cling.
To hang together.
(a)
To remain united; to stand by one another. "We are all of a piece; we hang together."
(b)
To be self-consistent; as, the story does not hang together. (Colloq.)
To hang upon.
(a)
To regard with passionate affection.
(b)
(Mil.) To hover around; as, to hang upon the flanks of a retreating enemy.






Collaborative International Dictionary of English 0.48








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"Hang back" Quotes from Famous Books



... spear in hand, And from the mound he thus exhorts the band: "Hear, sons of Teucer, and let none be slack. Jove fights for us, so hearken my command. Though strange the venture, sudden the attack, Let none for that cause faint, none loiter and hang back. ...
— The Aeneid of Virgil - Translated into English Verse by E. Fairfax Taylor • Virgil

... dissipate the whole? We are engaged in war,—the Secretary of State calls upon the colonies to contribute,—some would do it, I think most would cheerfully furnish whatever is demanded,—one or two, suppose, hang back, and, easing themselves, let the stress of the draft lie on the others,—surely it is proper that some authority might legally say, "Tax yourselves for the common Supply, or Parliament will do it for you." ...
— The Works of the Right Honourable Edmund Burke, Vol. II. (of 12) • Edmund Burke

... foolish enough to try to hang back on his conductors. A slight jab through the clothing from one of the marines' bayonets caused the prisoner to stop that trick. He was taken on deck and ...
— The Submarine Boys and the Middies • Victor G. Durham

... is a shirker or a conscientious objector," she thought, "and to such a patriotic girl as Chrissie it must be a dreadful trial. If Bevis or Leonard or Larry seemed to hang back I'd ...
— A Patriotic Schoolgirl • Angela Brazil

... fact, as I found afterwards, the king vulture had fastened on to his snub nose, whilst its dreadful companions, having seized other portions of his frame, were beginning to hang back after their fashion in order to secure some chosen morsel. Hans kicked and screamed, and I rushed in shouting, causing them to rise in a great, flapping cloud that presently vanished this way and that. Within a minute they had all gone, and the Hottentot ...
— Marie - An Episode in The Life of the late Allan Quatermain • H. Rider Haggard


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