Hanger Meaning
/ˈhæŋ.əː/Definition, CEFR level B1, pronunciation, examples, and quiz.
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Definition
nounOne who hangs, or causes to be hanged; a hangman, paper hanger, etc.
nounA person who attempts suicide by hanging.
Sentence Examples
Put your coat on a hanger.
Put the coat on the hanger.
Tom took his coat off the hanger and put it on.
CEFR Practice Quiz
He put his suit on a wooden ____ to keep it from wrinkling.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please put your coat on a ____ instead of just throwing it onto the back of the chair.
Word Origin & History
Inherited from Middle English hanger, haunger, hangere, equivalent to hang + -er. Cognate with West Frisian hinger (“hanger”), Dutch hanger (“hanger”), German Hänger (“hanger”), Henker (“hangman”), Danish hænger (“hanger”), Norwegian henger (“hanger”), Swedish hängare (“hanger”).
Literary Quotations & Historical Citations
"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."
— 2017, Ronald V. Clarke, Suicide: Closing the Exits:
"[H]is shoulder was graced with a broad buff belt, from whence depended a huge hanger with a hilt like that of a backsword […]."
— 1751, [Tobias] Smollett, The Adventures of Peregrine Pickle […], volume (please specify |volume=I to IV), London: Harrison and Co., […], →OCLC:
"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."
— 1789, Olaudah Equiano, chapter 4, in The Interesting Narrative, volume I:
"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."
— 1819, Washington Irving, The Sketch Book, Rip Van Winkle:
"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."
— 2012, Jerry White, London in the Eighteenth Century, Bodley Head, published 2017, page 440:
Explore More B1 Vocabulary Words
CEFR Practice Quiz
He put his suit on a wooden ____ to keep it from wrinkling.
CEFR Practice Quiz (Alternate)
Please put your coat on a ____ instead of just throwing it onto the back of the chair.