“dangles” is a form of
dangle
/ˈdæŋ.ɡəl/ verb, noun
Forms dangles dangling dangled
- verb (intransitive) To hang loosely with the ability to swing. “His feet are dangling in the water.”
- verb (intransitive, slang, ice hockey, lacrosse) The action of performing a move or deke with the puck in order to get past a defender or goalie; perhaps because of the resemblance to dangling the puck on a string. “He dangled around three players and the goalie to score.”
- verb (transitive) To hang or trail something loosely. “I like to sit on the edge and dangle my feet in the water.”
- verb (transitive, figurative, by extension) To put forth as a possibility.
- verb (intransitive, dated) To trail or follow around.
- verb (medicine, intransitive) Of a patient: to be positioned with the legs hanging over the edge of the bed.
- verb (medicine, transitive) To position (a patient) in this way.
- noun An agent of one intelligence agency or group who pretends to be interested in defecting or turning to another intelligence agency or group.
- noun (slang, ice hockey, lacrosse) The action of dangling; a series of complex stick tricks and fakes in order to defeat the defender in style. “That was a sick dangle for a great goal!”
- noun A dangling ornament or decoration.
Synonyms
Etymology
Uncertain, but likely of North Germanic origin, akin to Danish dingle, dangle, Swedish dangla (“to swing about”), Norwegian dangla, perhaps via North Frisian dangeln; all possibly related to Old Norse dengja (“to hit”).
Webster’s 1913
- verb To hang loosely, or with a swinging or jerking motion.
- verb To cause to dangle; to swing, as something suspended loosely; as, to dangle the feet.
Etymology [Akin to Dan. dangle, dial. Sw. dangla, Dan. dingle, Sw. dingla, Icel. dingla; perh. from E. ding.]
Sources: Wiktionary · WordNet 3.0 · Webster’s 1913 — from the Wiktionary entry “dangle”, CC BY-SA 4.0. Details