Word Pronunciation & Dictionary

hang back

Word Rarity Uncommon

Frequency: Zipf frequency 4.58 in modern English

Syllables: hang back
IPA

20

Scrabble Score

8

Letters

1

Syllables

7

Unique Chars

Meaning

verb

To wait; to falter; to avoid proceeding through reluctance.

Informal

Example Sentences

"'[…] Perhaps just at present he may be undecided; the smallness of your fortune may make him hang back; his friends may all advise him against it. But some of those little attentions and encouragements which ladies can so easily give, will fix him, in spite of himself […]'"
"From this one poor hunt, then, the best lance out of all Nantucket, surely he will not hang back, when every foremast-hand has clutched a whetstone?"
"Ayala’s mix-up with Dean Whitehead left Cameron Jerome advancing from the flank, probably expecting at least one opponent would come across to block off the shot. It never happened. The next defender, Ben Gibson, hung back, mistakenly thinking Jerome would look for a team-mate, and the goalkeeper, Dimitrios Konstantopoulos, also seemed to be caught in two minds."

Usage

Informal

Inflected Forms

hangs back (present, singular) hanging back (participle, present) hung back (participle, past) hung back (past)

Synonyms

drag trail get behind drop behind drop back

Questions

What does hang back mean?: To wait; to falter; to avoid proceeding through reluctance.

How to pronounce hang back

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