hang
n. uncountablen. the ability to understand or do something that was difficult at first. You usually use it with the word 'get' when you finally learn a new skill.
n. the basic understanding or mastery of a particular skill or activity. Typically used in the idiomatic construction 'to get the hang of something'.
I am finally getting the hang of this new software.
Driving a manual car is tricky at first, but you will get the hang of it after a few lessons.
Once the new recruits get the hang of the filing system, the office workflow should become significantly more efficient and less prone to clerical errors.
From Middle English hangen, hongen, from a fusion of Old English hōn (“to hang, be hanging”, transitive verb) and hangian (“to hang, cause to hang”, intransitive verb), respectively from the transitive verb Proto-West Germanic hą̄han and the intransitive verb hangēn; also probably influenced by Old Norse hengja (“to suspend”) and hanga (“to be suspended”); all from Proto-Germanic hanhaną and hangāną, from Proto-Indo-European *ḱenk- (“to waver, be in suspense”). See also Dutch hangen, Low German hangen and hängen, German hängen, Norwegian Bokmål henge, Norwegian Nynorsk henga; also Gothic 𐌷𐌰𐌷𐌰𐌽 (hāhan), Hittite 𒂵𒀀𒀭𒂵 (/kānk-/, “to hang”), Sanskrit शङ्कते (śáṅkate, “is in doubt, hesitates”), Latin cūnctārī (“to delay”).
From hang sangwich, Irish colloquial pronunciation of ham sandwich.
Alteration of dang, itself a minced oath of damn.
Almost exclusively used in the singular form within the idiom 'get the hang of'.
I got the hang on itI got the hang of itThe noun 'hang' in this sense requires the preposition 'of' to connect to the activity being learned.