hang around

verb

hung around; hanging around; hangs around

1

intransitive, informal

a

: to pass time idly or in relaxing or socializing

spent the day just hanging around with her friends

b

: to stay in or at a place for a period of time

had to hang around for over an hour, waiting for the bus

She didn't feel like hanging around at the club afterward …

—David Calder

2

transitive informal : to pass time or stay in or at (a place) or in the company of (someone)

hung around the house all day

My mother doesn't want me hanging around the park alone.

—Judy Blume

When he was 10 years old, Lester taught him-self to windsurf by hanging around the Europeans and Canadian tourists who rented boards on the beach at Varadero.

—Sam Moses

Synonyms

• abide
• dwell
• remain
• stay
• stick around
• tarry

Examples of hang around in a Sentence

if you hang around until my husband gets home, you can meet him

Recent Examples on the Web

Outside scenes meant hanging around in the tropical sun for hours, and toward the end of the project a lot of the crew fell ill. —Charlie Campbell, TIME, 24 Jan. 2025

Clearly, City, top of the table with games in hand on all their rivals, don’t plan to hang around in this division. —Richard Sutcliffe, The Athletic, 22 Jan. 2025

That could mean TikTok hangs around for a bit longer. —Taylor Grothe, Parents, 17 Jan. 2025

Despite leading by as many as 23 in the second half, UCLA enable Penn State to hang around and claw its way back to a single-digit deficit, the Lions outscoring UCLA 16-12 early in the fourth quarter and cutting the lead to seven points. —Anthony De Leon, Los Angeles Times, 16 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1823, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

hang around

verb

informal

: to pass time or stay idly in or at

hung around the house all day