Word.ws English Dictionary

hanging over someone's head

hanging over someone's head is the present participle and gerund of hang over someone's head.

Meaning of hang over someone's head

Verb

hang over someone's head (third-person singular simple present hangs over someone's head, present participle hanging over someone's head, simple past and past participle hung over someone's head)

  1. (idiomatic) To threaten (someone); to act as a constant preoccupation for (someone).
    • Lord Justice Roskill delivered the decision of the three justices, upholding the fines against the paper and editor Lemon. The justices also granted court costs to anti-gay crusader Mary Whitehouse, the person who brought the suit against the paper. A prison sentence hanging over Lemon's head was...1978 April 15, “London's Gay News Loses Blasphemy Appeal”, in Gay Community News, page 3

Questions about hanging over someone's head

What is hanging over someone's head the present participle and gerund of?
Hanging over someone's head is the present participle and gerund of hang over someone's head.

Words near hanging over someone's head in the dictionary

  1. hanging out
  2. hanging out of one's arse
  3. hanging out one's shingle
  4. hanging out to dry
  5. hanging over
  6. hanging over someone's head
  7. hanging paragraph
  8. hanging paragraphs
  9. hanging parrot
  10. hanging parrots
  11. hanging participle

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: hanging over someone's head (page history and authors); hang over someone's head (page history and authors). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.

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