hang on

hang on

1. 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.

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Hang on! We're going to crash!

5. to pause in a telephone conversation. •

Please hang on until I get a pen.

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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).