dangle

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dangle

  • /ˈdæŋ.ɡəl/
  • [ˈdæŋ.ɡl̩]
  • /ˈdeɪ̯ŋ.ɡəl/
  • [ˈdeɪ̯ŋ.ɡl̩]
  • /ˈdɛ̃ŋ.ɡəl/
  • [ˈdɛ̃ŋ.ɡl̩]

Rhymes with -æŋɡəl

Where it comes from

Uncertain, but likely of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish dingle, dangle, Swedish dangla (“to swing about”), Norwegian dangla, perhaps via North Frisian dangeln; all possibly related to Old Norse dengja (“to hit”).

verb dangles · dangling · dangled

  1. intransitive To hang loosely with the ability to swing. His feet are dangling in the water.
  2. intransitive, slang The action of performing a move or deke with the puck in order to get past a defender or goalie; perhaps because of the resemblance to dangling the puck on a string. He dangled around three players and the goalie to score.
  3. transitive To hang or trail something loosely. I like to sit on the edge and dangle my feet in the water.
  4. broadly, figuratively, transitive To put forth as a possibility. That it happens to have been produced under the imprimatur of Michael Bay dangles the possibility of poor taste, but unfortunately, bombast and conspicuous consumption are nowhere to be found.
  5. dated, intransitive To trail or follow around. To dangle at the elbow of a wench who can't make up her mind to accept the common title of wife, till she has been courted a certain number of weeks — so the old blinker, her father, says.
  6. intransitive Of a patient: to be positioned with the legs hanging over the edge of the bed. Record the time and duration of dangling, patient's pulse and respirations and patient's general tolerance of the procedure. […] The next step usually in getting the patient out of bed is sitting […]
  7. transitive To position (a patient) in this way. Using proper body mechanics for dangling a patient at the side of the bed.

noun dangles

  1. An agent of one intelligence agency or group who pretends to be interested in defecting or turning to another intelligence agency or group. The example of Oswald will show how the different operations of a dangle and a barium meal would work more efficiently together.
  2. slang The action of dangling; a series of complex stick tricks and fakes in order to defeat the defender in style. That was a sick dangle for a great goal!
  3. A dangling ornament or decoration. So her father wrote to Mrs. Herring, and one day she arrived and turned out to be a little, lean old lady with a dark brown mole on one leathery cheek and wearing a black bonnet decorated with jet dangles, like tiny fishing rods.

Translations

Every language

verb hang loosely

Españolpender
Portuguêspender, pendurar
Françaispendre, pendouiller
Deutschbaumeln
Italianopenzolare
Românăbălăbăni, legăna
Русскийвисе́ть visétʹ, болтаться boltatʹsja, кача́ться kačátʹsja
Tiếng Việttreo, lủng lẳng
العربيةتَدَلَّى tadallā, تَهَدَّلَ tahaddala

verb hang or trail something loosely

Deutschbaumeln (mit), schlenkern (mit), baumeln lassen
Italianofar penzolare
Românăatârna
Русскийболта́ть boltátʹ, кача́ть kačátʹ
العربيةدَلَّى dallā

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Cite this
MLA

"dangle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn, micwyn.com/word/dangle. Accessed 6 Nov. 2026.

APA

dangle. (n.d.). In Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Retrieved November 6, 2026, from https://micwyn.com/word/dangle

Chicago

"dangle." Wiktionary, via Micwyn. Accessed November 6, 2026. https://micwyn.com/word/dangle.

BibTeX
@misc{dangle_2026,
  title = {dangle},
  howpublished = {Wiktionary, via Micwyn},
  year = {2026},
  url = {https://micwyn.com/word/dangle},
  urldate = {2026-11-06}
}