dangle
verb/ˈdæŋɡl/
/ˈdæŋɡl/
Verb Forms
Idioms | present simple I / you / we / they dangle | /ˈdæŋɡl/ /ˈdæŋɡl/ |
| he / she / it dangles | /ˈdæŋɡlz/ /ˈdæŋɡlz/ |
| past simple dangled | /ˈdæŋɡld/ /ˈdæŋɡld/ |
| past participle dangled | /ˈdæŋɡld/ /ˈdæŋɡld/ |
| -ing form dangling | /ˈdæŋɡlɪŋ/ /ˈdæŋɡlɪŋ/ |
- [intransitive, transitive] to hang or move freely; to hold something so that it hangs or moves freely
- +adv./prep. Gold charms dangled from her bracelet.
- A single light bulb dangled from the ceiling.
- He sat on the edge with his legs dangling over the side.
- dangle something + adv./prep. She dangled her car keys nervously as she spoke.
- He dangled his legs over the edge of the bridge.
Extra Examples- His legs dangled over the side of the boat.
- Her arms dangled loosely by her sides.
- His foothold gave way, and he was left dangling from his rope.
Want to learn more?
Find out which words work together and produce more natural sounding English with the Oxford Collocations Dictionary app.
- [transitive] dangle something (before/in front of somebody) to offer somebody something good in order to persuade them to do something
- He had a company directorship dangled in front of him.
- He dangled the prospect of enormous wealth before us.
- The boss wanted us to work more hours, dangling the carrot of well-paid overtime.
Word Originlate 16th cent.: symbolic of something loose and pendulous, corresponding to Danish dangle, Swedish dangla, but the origin is unclear.
Idioms
See dangle in the Oxford Advanced American Dictionarykeep/leave somebody dangling
- (informal) to keep somebody in an uncertain state by not telling them something that they want to know
- She kept him dangling for a week before making her decision.
Check pronunciation:
dangle