: to end an installment of a cliffhanger with a suspenseful usually melodramatic unresolved conflict designed to entice the audience to read or view the succeeding installment to discover the resolution of the conflict
to forbid cliff-hanging in children's radio serials

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of cliff-hang was in 1938

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Dictionary Entries Near cliff-hang

Cite this Entry

“Cliff-hang.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cliff-hang. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

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