▪ I. dangle, v.
(ˈdæŋg(ə)l)
[Appears at end of 16th c.; corresponds to Da. dangle, Norw. and Sw. dial. dangla, North Fris. dangeln, ablaut-derivs. of Da. dingle, Norw., Sw., Icel. dingla to dangle. In form these seem to belong to the stem ding-, dang- (ding v.), but the connexion of sense is not clear.]
1. intr. To hang loosely swaying to and fro.
| c 1590 Sir T. More (Shaks. Soc. 1844) 46 How long Hath this shagg fleece hung dangling on thy head? 1598 Yong Diana 228 Her disshiueled hair..in curled lockes hung dangling about her snow-white forehead. 1633 P. Fletcher Pisc. Ecl. i. vi, Our thinne nets dangling in the winde. 1678 Norris Misc. (1699) 37 Ripe Apples now hang dangling on the Tree. 1782 Cowper Gilpin 132 For all might see the bottle-necks Still dangling at his waist. 1877 Black Green Past. xxxvi, Mr. Bolitho was seated on a table, his legs dangling in the air. |
b. To hang from the gallows; to be hanged.
| 1678 Butler Hud. iii. i. 641 And men [have] as often dangled for't, And yet will never leave the sport. 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xxx, Let the rascal be carried back to his confinement. I find he must dangle. 1841 James Brigand xxxviii, Set him dangling from the battlements. |
2. trans. To make (a thing) hang and sway to and fro; to hold or carry (it) suspended loosely.
| 1612 Two Noble K. i. ii. 57 What canon is there That does command my rapier from my hip, To dangle 't in my hand? 1748 Smollett Rod. Rand. xlv, I..dangled my cane and adjusted my sword knot. 1808 Scott Marm. v. xii, The bridegroom stood dangling his bonnet and plume. 1873 Symonds Grk. Poets x. 314 Lazy fishermen..dangling their rods like figures in Pompeian frescoes. |
b. fig. To keep (hopes, anticipations, etc.) hanging uncertainly before any one.
| 1863 Kinglake Crimea (1877) II. ii. 31 The mighty temptation which seemed to be dangled before him. 1871 Freeman Norm. Conq. (1876) IV. xviii. 193 The hopes of a royal marriage were again dangled before the eyes of Eadwine. |
c. To hang (any one) on a gallows.
| 1887 W. C. Russell Frozen Pirate II. iv. 92 This is evidence to dangle even an honester man than you. |
3. fig. (intr.) To hang after or about any one, especially as a loosely attached follower; to follow in a dallying way, without being a formally recognized attendant.
| 1607 Dekker Sir T. Wyatt Wks. 1873 III. 115 Wyat..rising thus in armes, with the Kentish men dangling at his taile. 1727 Swift Past. Dial., Marble Hill & Richmond Lodge, Plump Johnny Gay will now elope; And here no more will dangle Pope. 1734 Fielding Univ. Gallant 1, Pray take her, I dangled after her long enough too. 1760 Foote Minor i. Wks. 1799 I. 232 The sleek..'prentice us'd to dangle after his mistress, with the great Bible under his arm. a 1859 Macaulay Hist. Eng. V. 5 Heirs of noble houses..dangling after actresses. 1862 Merivale Rom. Emp. (1865) IV. xxxvii. 271 The exquisites of the day were men who dangled in the train of ladies. |
† b. To stroll idly, or with lounging steps: cf. 1607, 1760 above. Obs.
| 1778 Learning at a Loss II. 76 They quitted, or, to use their own expression, dangled out of the Room. |
4. trans. To lead about in one's train, or as an appendage.
| a 1723 Gay Distressed Wife 11, I am not to be dangled about whenever and wherever his odious business calls him. |
5. To while away or cause to pass in dangling.
| 1727 Bolingbroke in Swift's Lett. (1766) II. 77 The noble pretension of dangling away life in an ante-chamber. |
6. Comb. (of the verb stem) dangle-berry, Blue Tangle, Gaylussacia frondosa, an American shrub, family Vacciniaceæ; dangle-jack (see quot.).
| 1881 Leicestersh. Gloss., Dangle-jack, the primitive roasting-jack, generally a stout bit of worsted with a hook at the end, turned by giving it a twist from time to time with the fingers. |
▪ II. ˈdangle, n.
[f. dangle v.]
Act or manner of dangling (rare); something that dangles.
| 1756 Connoisseur No. 122 Seeming ravished with the genteel dangle of his sword-knot. 1888 O. Crawfurd Sylvia Arden ii. 21 He lay there in a swound till they got him up the ladder, with just a dangle of life in him. 1903 Westm. Gaz. 26 Mar. 8/2 We get dangles in the shops made and ready for our use, fashioned of silk cords and tassels. 1909 Cent. Dict. Suppl., Dangle-money, an early Chinese bronze coinage, so called from its resemblance to and former use as dangles of a musical instrument. 1909 M. B. Saunders Litany Lane. i. ix, A pair of long jet earrings representing funeral urns with cloths over them had replaced the usual golden dangles. 1909 Webster s.v., A dangle of curls. 1937 Partridge Dict. Slang 207/2 Dangle-parade, a ‘short-arm’ inspection: New Zealand soldiers’. 1957 J. Kerouac On Road (1958) i. vii. 44 On the wall was a nude drawing of Dean, enormous dangle and all. |
▪ III. ˈdangle, a. rare.
[f. dangle v.]
Dangling.
| 1600 J. Pory tr. Leo's Africa ii. 341 A tame beast..having long and dangle eares. 1889 Braithwaite Retrosp. Med. C. 241 In many cases the leg is a mere ‘dangle limb’ of no service whatever. |