ENGLISH
REFERENCE

hangover

n.
US //ˈhæˌŋoʊvɝ// UK //hˈæŋɡəʊvɐ// hang·over
  1. 1 after drinking alcohol (n.)
    B2 Upper Intermediate

    the headache and sick feeling you get the day after you drink too much alcohol.

    the unpleasant physical effects, such as headache and nausea, following the excessive consumption of alcohol.

    Example

    He woke up with a terrible hangover and promised never to drink that much again.

    Example

    After the wedding celebrations, several guests appeared at breakfast nursing hangovers and requesting strong coffee.

    Usage

    Often used with the verbs 'have', 'nurse', or 'suffer from'.
    • after effects
  2. 2 historical sleeping rope (n.)
    C2 Proficiency Archaic British English

    a very old type of bed in a shelter where people slept by leaning over a rope.

    a historical sleeping arrangement in nineteenth-century homeless shelters where occupants slept sitting up, supported by a tensioned rope.

    Example

    In the old days, the poorest people paid a few pennies for a hangover in a crowded room.

    Example

    Social reformers of the Victorian era documented the 'two-penny hangover' as one of the most undignified forms of shelter available to the urban poor.

    Teacher's tip

    This sense is archaic and rarely understood by modern speakers outside of a historical context.
    • two penny hangover
Origin

American English; hang + over. First sense was first attested in 1904. Second sense was first attested in 1894.

© 2026 English Reference