- hang on
- hang on1. to wait awhile. •
Hang on a minute. I need to talk to you.
•Hang on. Let me catch up with you.
2. to survive for awhile. •I think we can hang on without electricity for a little while longer.
3. [for an illness] to linger or persist. •This cold has been hanging on for a month.
•This is the kind of flu that hangs on for weeks.
4. be prepared for fast or rough movement. (Usually a command.) •Hang on! The train is going very fast.
•Hang on! We're going to crash!
5. to pause in a telephone conversation. •Please hang on until I get a pen.
•If you'll hang on, I'll get her.
* * *{v.} 1. To hold on to something, usually tightly. * /Jack almost fell off the cliff, but managed to hang on until help came./ Syn.: HOLD ON(1). 2a. To continue doing something; persist. * /The grocer was losing money every day, but he hung on, hoping that business would improve./ Compare: HOLD OUT, STICK OUT. 2b. To hold a lead in a race or other contest while one's opponents try to rally. * /The favorite horse opened an early lead and hung on to win as two other horses almost passed him in the final stretch./ * /Bunning, staked to a 6-0 lead in the first inning, hung on to heat the Dodgers 6-4./ 3. To continue to give trouble or cause suffering. * /Lou's cold hung on from January to April./ 4. To continue listening on the telephone. * /Jerry asked John, who had called him on the phone, to hung on while he ran for a pencil and a sheet of paper./ Compare: HOLD ON(3).
Dictionary of American idioms. 2013.