hang in

verb

hung in; hanging in; hangs in

intransitive verb

informal : to refuse to be discouraged or intimidated : to keep going, trying, or working in a difficult situation

… did not hang in long enough to win even a battle.

—Marvin E. Frankel

Hoping to hang in until some series he works on runs five years and makes him $50 million in syndication …

—Chris Chase

—often used in the phrase hang in there

If there was ever a mismatched couple it was this one, but the children begged them to hang in there.

—Joseph Wambaugh

If she hung in there long enough, he would change. It just took a lot of patience with a little reasoning.

—Gloria Naylor

Examples of hang in in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Judge temporarily blocks Trump policy that aimed at freezing federal grant funding The fate of trillions of dollars in federal grants and loans continue to hang in the balance on Wednesday after a federal judge temporarily blocked a Trump administration policy that aimed to pause the spending. —Nicole Fallert, USA TODAY, 29 Jan. 2025

By Saturday evening, Carter’s No. 15 jersey will be hanging in the rafters at Barclays Center, forever immortalized in franchise history. —C.j. Holmes, New York Daily News, 24 Jan. 2025

But somehow this stock hangs in even as the president dismantles pretty much everything that has anything to do with renewables. —Jim Cramer, CNBC, 23 Jan. 2025

Sumptuous terry robes hang in elegant white-marble bathrooms with antique Portuguese blue and white sinks, and claw-footed tubs beckon. —Ariel Okin, Vogue, 22 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1966, in the meaning defined above

Kids Definition

hang in

verb

informal

: to refuse to be discouraged or frightened

Hang in there, kid! Don't quit.