English

Alternative forms

• on-hanger

Noun

onhanger ‎(plural onhangers)

1. That which, or one who, hangs on to, relies on, or is dependent upon another; a dependant.
   • 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.

Related terms

• hanger-on
• byhanger