Crossword Dictionary

What's The Definition Of Hanging?

\Hang"ing\, a. 1. Requiring, deserving, or foreboding death by the halter. ``What a hanging face!'' --Dryden. 2. Suspended from above; pendent; as, hanging shelves. 3. Adapted for sustaining a hanging object; as, the hanging post of a gate, the post which holds the hinges. {Hanging compass}, a compass suspended so that the card may be read from beneath. {Hanging garden}, a garden sustained at an artificial elevation by any means, as by the terraces at Babylon. {Hanging indentation}. See under {Indentation}. {Hanging rail} (Arch.), that rail of a door or casement to which hinges are attached. {Hanging side} (Mining), the overhanging side of an inclined or hading vein. {Hanging sleeves}. (a) Strips of the same stuff as the gown, hanging down the back from the shoulders. (b) Loose, flowing sleeves. {Hanging stile}. (Arch.) (a) That stile of a door to which hinges are secured. (b) That upright of a window frame to which casements are hinged, or in which the pulleys for sash windows are fastened. {Hanging wall} (Mining), the upper wall of inclined vein, or that which hangs over the miner's head when working in the vein.
\Hang"ing\, n. 1. The act of suspending anything; the state of being suspended. 2. Death by suspension; execution by a halter. 3. That which is hung as lining or drapery for the walls of a room, as tapestry, paper, etc., or to cover or drape a door or window; -- used chiefly in the plural. Nor purple hangings clothe the palace walls. --Dryden.