dangle

verb dan·gle \ ˈdaŋ-gəl \

|Updated on: 5 Jun 2018

Definition of dangle

dangled; dangling play \-g(ə-)liŋ\

1 : to hang loosely and usually so as to be able to swing freely

2 : to be a hanger-on or a dependent

3 : to occur in a sentence without having a normally expected syntactic relation to the rest of the sentence (such as climbing in "Climbing the mountain the cabin came into view")

a dangling participle

a dangling modifier

transitive verb

1 : to cause to dangle : swing

dangled her feet in the water

2 a : to keep hanging uncertainly

b : to hold out as an inducement

—

dangler

play \-g(ə-)lər\ noun

See dangle defined for English-language learners

See dangle defined for kids

Examples of dangle in a Sentence

Let your arms dangle at your sides.
She sat on the edge of the pool, dangling her feet in the water.
He dangled a piece of string in front of the cat.
The money she dangled in front of him wasn't enough to convince him to sell.
They refused to accept the money that was dangled before their eyes.

Recent Examples of dangle from the Web

The move follows months of uncertainty as the Trump administration dangled potential exemptions for allies in return for concessions on other fronts.

— New York Times, "White House to Impose Metal Tariffs on Key U.S. Allies, Risking Retaliation," 31 May 2018
Mamoudou Gassama, an undocumented migrant from Mali, is being hailed as a hero after climbing a building to save a 4-year-old boy dangling from a fourth-floor balcony in Paris on Saturday.

— terrell jermaine starr, The Root, "Malian Migrant Gets French Citizenship After Saving Child Dangling From a Balcony," 28 May 2018
As the day neared late afternoon, one such young fox scampered across an open field with a rabbit, recently captured, dangling from its jaws.

— kevin ebi, National Geographic, "Bald Eagle Steals Dinner From Fox—by Flying Off With Both," 24 May 2018
Alvar Aalto’s stools provide seating, while his Hand Grenade pendants dangle above.

— liz stinson, Curbed, "This gorgeous pop-up restaurant is completely waste-free," 22 May 2018
The meeting was attended by Donald Trump Jr., who agreed to attend the meeting after organizers dangled the promise of damaging information on his father’s opponent, Hillary Clinton.

— jaclyn gallucci, Fortune, "The Trump Tower Meeting Documents: What You Need to Know," 16 May 2018
The zoo posted video of Bei Bei dangling by its hind legs from the branch.

— Fox News, "Panda tumbles from limb at National Zoo, climbs back up," 11 May 2018
Your sleep position Sleeping on your side may cause breasts to sag more over time, says Roshini Rajapaksa, MD, Health’s contributing medical editor, since one will dangle downward and its ligaments can become stretched.

— amanda macmillan, Health.com, "7 Things You Can and Can’t Do About Saggy Breasts," 20 Mar. 2018
Now empty gun boxes left over from their search were strewn around his house, and a holster dangled on the bedroom doorknob.

— eli saslow, Anchorage Daily News, "He threatened to kill himself. So the police took his guns.," 18 Mar. 2018

These example sentences are selected automatically from various online news sources to reflect current usage of the word 'dangle.' Views expressed in the examples do not represent the opinion of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.