hang around

verb

hung around; hanging around; hangs around

1

intransitive, informal

a

: to pass time idly or in relaxing or socializing

spent the day just hanging around with her friends

b

: to stay in or at a place for a period of time

had to hang around for over an hour, waiting for the bus

She didn't feel like hanging around at the club afterward …

—David Calder

2

transitive informal : to pass time or stay in or at (a place) or in the company of (someone)

hung around the house all day

My mother doesn't want me hanging around the park alone.

—Judy Blume

When he was 10 years old, Lester taught him-self to windsurf by hanging around the Europeans and Canadian tourists who rented boards on the beach at Varadero.

—Sam Moses

Synonyms of hang around

• remain
• stay
• wait
• stick around

Examples of hang around in a Sentence

if you hang around until my husband gets home, you can meet him

Recent Examples on the Web

And the higher the altitude, the longer the debris hangs around, from decades to centuries. — Eric Berger, ArsTechnica, 23 Sep. 2026

Mosquito bites are to be expected in the warm summer months, but increasingly these pests are hanging around into autumn. — Tom Gavin, EverydayHealth.com, 21 Sep. 2026

This set is sublime for hanging around the house without feeling sloppy. — Reece Andavolgyi, InStyle, 20 Sep. 2026

The chip of bone was placed in a circular container called a reliquary and hung around the saint’s neck. — Clare Whitton, The Conversation, 17 Sep. 2026

Word History

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Rhymes for hang around

• aboveground
• battleground
• belowground
• paperbound
• turnaround
• ultrasound
• underground
• wraparound
• abound
• aground
• astound
• background

Kids Definition

hang around

verb

informal

: to pass time or stay idly in or at

hung around the house all day