hung
1 Americanverb
adjective
idioms
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hung up on,
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obsessed by.
a clerk hung up on petty details.
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infatuated with.
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hung over. see hungover.
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hung up,
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detained unavoidably.
They were hung up in bad traffic and missed their flight.
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stymied or baffled by a problem.
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see hung-up.
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Baseball, Softball. (of a base runner) trapped between bases and in danger of being tagged out.
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abbreviation
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Hungarian. Also Hung
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Hungary.
verb
adjective
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(of a legislative assembly) not having a party with a working majority
a hung parliament
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unable to reach a decision
a hung jury
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(of a situation) unable to be resolved
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informal suffering from the effects of a hangover
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slang
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impeded by some difficulty or delay
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in a state of confusion; emotionally disturbed
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slang obsessively or exclusively interested in
he's hung up on modern art these days
abbreviation
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Hungarian
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Hungary
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
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.
See Examples For:
Prosecutors will also decide on the next steps on the hung jury verdicts - whether to press ahead or not on those charges.
From BBC ● Jul. 31, 2026
The deceptively simple work is part sculpture, part assemblage, part collage and features a vintage wooden ironing board set beside a white sheet hung on a line with six wooden clothespins.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 28, 2026
They hung it in their apartment, soon to host their Saturday evening salons for artists and writers.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 25, 2026
A poster hung outside the school for upcoming municipal elections -- a rare reminder that life, for those who remain, has not frozen in time.
From Barron's ● Jul. 22, 2026
And so I didn’t cry, not when I saw the bag Maggie had made to take with her, and not when I hung our good dresses outside to air on a rope.
From "Nory Ryan’s Song" by Patricia Reilly Giff
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And we are not without an additional trace of the sense we want, as the Basque has ur, water, errio, a river, and the Hung. has er, a brook.
From The River-Names of Europe by Ferguson, Robert
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.