cliff-hang

intransitive verb

ˈklif-ˌhaŋ 

: to end an installment of a cliffhanger with a suspenseful usually melodramatic unresolved conflict designed to entice the audience to read or view the succeeding installment to discover the resolution of the conflict

to forbid cliff-hanging in children's radio serials

Word History

First Known Use

1938, in the meaning defined above

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