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coat hanger

American

noun

hanger.

coat hanger British

noun

a curved piece of wood, wire, plastic, etc, fitted with a hook and used to hang up clothes

"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

Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

coat hangers

plural

Etymology

Origin of coat hanger

First recorded in 1890–95

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:

coat hanger

The coat hanger became the symbol for legalization.

From Slate ● Apr. 20, 2026

Its included slimline coat hanger kept everything nice and tidy.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Nov. 13, 2025

And anyone who compares a copper wire with a steel coat hanger will quickly discern that copper is much more pliable than steel.

From Science Daily ● May 22, 2024

Think of tugging gently on the bottom of a wire coat hanger and seeing it bounce back into shape when you let go.

From Scientific American ● Feb. 22, 2023

Patching tires and adjusting the bike’s brakes with a coat hanger became important parts of her mechanical repertoire.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly

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