dangle
- 01 B2 Upper Intermediate
v.to hang or swing loosely from something.
v.to hang loosely with the ability to swing; functions both transitively and intransitively.
Simple“A pair of fuzzy dice dangled from the car's rearview mirror.”
In context“The child sat on the edge of the pier, letting his legs dangle over the dark, swirling water below.”
UsageCan be used with an object (to dangle something) or without (something dangles).
- 02 C1 Advanced
v.to sit on the edge of a bed with your legs hanging down, usually to help your blood flow.
v.to assist a patient in sitting on the edge of the bed with their feet hanging down to adjust to upright posture.
Simple“The nurse helped the patient dangle for a few minutes before trying to stand.”
In context“Post-operative protocols often require the patient to dangle at the bedside to prevent orthostatic hypotension before ambulation.”
UsageCommonly used as an intransitive verb in clinical settings.
- 03 C2 Proficiency
v.to move a puck or ball quickly to trick a defender.
v.to perform a series of deceptive stick-handling moves to bypass a defender.
Simple“The player dangled past two defenders and scored a beautiful goal.”
In context“He managed to dangle through the neutral zone, leaving the opposing defense completely out of position.”
Teacher's tipThis sense is specific to ice hockey and occasionally floorball or lacrosse.
Synonymsdekefint - 04 C2 Proficiency
n.a spy who pretends they want to join the enemy to trick them.
n.an agent who purports to be interested in defecting to a rival intelligence agency to act as a double agent.
Simple“The agency suspected the new informant was actually a dangle sent by the enemy.”
In context“Counter-intelligence officers spent months vetting the source to ensure he wasn't a dangle intended to feed them misinformation.”
Synonymsdouble agentplant
“Juicy brown and ripening yellow dates dangle down from the branches of each palm tree at Israeli settler farms in the Jordan Valley, in the occupied West Bank.”
“But to be fair, food is food—dangle a human in the face of a ravenous meg and it probably wouldn’t turn up its nose.”
Uncertain, but likely of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish dingle, dangle, Swedish dangla (“to swing about”), Norwegian dangla, perhaps via North Frisian dangeln; all possibly related to Old Norse dengja (“to hit”).
Etymology adapted from Wiktionary, available under CC BY-SA 4.0.