hangar

1 of 2

noun

han·​gar ˈhaŋ-ər  ˈhaŋ-gər 

: shelter, shed

especially : a covered and usually enclosed area for housing and repairing aircraft

hangar

2 of 2

verb

hangared; hangaring; hangars

transitive verb

: to place or store in a hangar

Examples of hangar in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Noun

At the Alaska Aviation Museum, near the airport in Anchorage, a Boeing 737 with the logo of Alaska Airlines on its sides and the company’s emblem of a smiling, parka-wearing Native man on its tail sits with other mothballed airplanes outside a hangar. —Ian Frazier, New Yorker, 19 Jan. 2026

Artemis 2 moon rocket emerges from giant hangar As we near the 2-hour mark of NASA's up to 10-hour move of the Artemis 2 rocket to its Florida launch pad, the 322-foot-tall Space Launch System is fully visible and has exited its massive Vehicle Assembly Building hangar. —Tariq Malik, Space.com, 17 Jan. 2026

Verb

Leslie Day, a friend who hangared her plane near Ms. Bera’s at Gillespie Field in El Cajon, Calif., outside San Diego, estimated in an interview that Ms. Bera had spent the equivalent of more than three years in the pilot’s seat. —Daniel E. Slotnik, BostonGlobe.com, 12 Apr. 2018

The issue of high fuel prices came to the board’s attention in late spring when airport tenants – which range from flight schools, to charter aircraft, to hangar renters – began to complain to board members. —Jordan Graham, Orange County Register, 25 Jan. 2017

Word History

Etymology

Noun

borrowed from French, "shed open on one or more sides for storing agricultural products, farm implements, and vehicles," going back to Middle French, perhaps going back to Old Low Franconian *haimgarda- "enclosure around a building," going back to West Germanic *haima- "dwelling" + *garđa- "enclosure" — more at home entry 1, yard entry 1

Note: The French form occurs earliest as a place name, Hangart (1135), in Somme department. Though the persistent attestation of the word with initial h-, diachronically and in dialects, is a certain indication of Germanic origin, the fact that such a compound is apparently not attested as a generic word or place-name in a Germanic language renders the etymology speculative.

Verb

verbal derivative of hangar entry 1

First Known Use

Noun

1852, in the meaning defined above

Verb

1943, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for hangar

• ganger
• hanger

Video

Is It 'Hanger' or 'Hangar'?

How to remember which is which

Kids Definition

hangar

noun

hang·​ar

ˈhaŋ-ər, 

ˈhaŋ-gər

: a shelter for housing and repairing aircraft

Etymology

Noun

from French hangar "shed"