See also: on-hanger

English edit

Alternative forms edit

Etymology edit

From on- +‎ hanger. Compare West Frisian oanhinger, Dutch aanhanger, German Anhänger.

Noun edit

onhanger (plural onhangers)

  1. That which, or one who, hangs on to, relies on, or is dependent upon another; a dependent.
    • 1821, Sir Walter Scott, Waverley:
      He was one of Queen Mary's Papists, and now he is one of Queen Elizabeth's Protestants ; he was an onhanger of the Abbot of Abingdon, and now he lives as master of the manor-house.
    • 1900, Joseph Collins, The Treatment of diseases of the nervous system:
      The seemingly widespread belief that aphasia is almost exclusively an onhanger of the apoplectic state seems to necessitate emphasizing the fact that some.
    • 1974, Anne D. Pick, Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology:
      The form is has no place in these sentences and seems to have been imported into them as an onhanger of it.

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