To hang in, verb. phr. (common).—To get to work; to do one’s best; to wire in (q.v.).
To hang in the bellropes, verb. phr. (common).—To defer marriage after being ‘asked’ in church.
To hang on by one’s eyelashes, verb. phr. (colloquial).—To persist at any cost, and in the teeth of any discouragement.
To hang on by the splash-board, verb. phr. (common).—To ‘catch’ a tram, omnibus, etc., when it is on the move; hence to succeed by the ‘skin of one’s teeth.’ Fr., arcpincer l’omnibus.
To hang around (or about), verb. phr. (American).—To loiter; to loaf; to haunt. [[262]]
To hang out, verb (common).—To live; to reside. Also (subs.), a residence; a lodging; and (American university) a feast; an entertainment.
1811. Lexicon Balatronicum, s.v. Hang out. The traps scavey where we hang out; the officers know where we live.
1836. Dickens, Pickwick, ch. xxx. ‘I say, old boy, where do you hang out?’ Mr. Pickwick replied that he was at present suspended at the George and Vulture.
1852. Bristed, Five Years in an English University, p. 80. The fourth of July I celebrated by a hang-out.
1871. City Press, 21 Jan. ‘Curiosities of Street Literature.’ He hangs out in Monmouth-court.