When you hear the word hang, think about a coat hook on the wall. Just like when you put your coat on the hook, it stays up and doesn’t fall to the ground. Hanging means something is being held up by something else, like a picture hanging on a wall or a swing hanging from a tree branch.

Imagine a monkey on a tree. When a monkey hangs from a branch, it uses its arms to hold on. It’s not sitting or standing; it’s just letting its body dangle while its hands keep it up. This is another way to understand hanging: something is attached at one point and lets the rest of it hang down.

Think about a mobile over a baby’s crib. The toys on the mobile hang from strings. They don’t touch the crib; they float in the air, gently moving. Hanging can also mean something is suspended in the air, not touching the ground, like a balloon tied to a string.

Sometimes, when people say something is hanging, it means it’s not finished or it’s in the middle of something. Like when you’re waiting for a story to end, and it stops right in the middle, you might say it’s ‘left hanging.’