Hung Definition & Meaning

American

British

Usage

Other Word Forms

Etymology

Examples

Synonyms hung 1 American [huhng] / hʌŋ /

verb

1. simple past tense and past participle of hang.

adjective

1. Slang: Usually Vulgar.

   1. (used to describe the size of a man's penis in expressions such as hung like a horse , hung like a bull , andhung like a field mouse. )

   2. (of a man) having a large penis; well-hung.

      That guy is hung!

idioms

1. hung up on,

   1. obsessed by.

      a clerk hung up on petty details.

   2. infatuated with.

2. hung over. hungover.

3. hung up,

   1. detained unavoidably.

      They were hung up in bad traffic and missed their flight.

   2. stymied or baffled by a problem.

   3. hung-up.

   4. Baseball, Softball. (of a base runner) trapped between bases and in danger of being tagged out.

Hung. 2 American

abbreviation

1. Hungarian. Also Hung

2. Hungary.

hung 1 British / hʌŋ /

verb

1. the usual past tense and past participle of hang

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

adjective

1. 1. (of a legislative assembly) not having a party with a working majority

      a hung parliament

   2. unable to reach a decision

      a hung jury

   3. (of a situation) unable to be resolved

2. informal suffering from the effects of a hangover

3. slang

   1. impeded by some difficulty or delay

   2. in a state of confusion; emotionally disturbed

4. slang obsessively or exclusively interested in

   he's hung up on modern art these days

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012 Hung. 2 British

abbreviation

1. Hungarian

2. Hungary

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Usage

See hang.

For most senses of hang the past tense and past participle is hung : I hung the curtains; he had hung the new painting on the wall . However, when the meaning is 'to suspend or be suspended by the neck until dead', the past tense and past participle is hanged : the traitors were hanged; they had hanged him at dawn . This form is also used in the idiom I'll be hanged

Other Word Forms

• unhung adjective

Etymology

Origin of hung

First recorded in 1635–45, for the adjective

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

He kept his eyes trained straight ahead, hoping that the FBI had no way of knowing that he’d once hung up on the man he was waiting to see.

From Literature

The strangest thing, Nim thought when she hung up, was that it hadn’t felt strange talking to Alex.

From Literature

“Then he hung a slider, and I put a good swing on it,” Rojas said.

From Los Angeles Times

Aside from the Bronstein case, the others ended in an acquittal or a hung jury.

From Los Angeles Times

And well she might have wept, because in October her presence at the Milan-Cortina Games hung in the balance.

From Barron's

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.