DANGLING

ppr. Hanging loosely; busily or officiously adhering to.

dangling

dan gling |ˈdaNGgliNG ˈdæŋɡlɪŋ | ▶adjective hanging or swinging loosely: a pair of dangling earrings.

dangling participle

dan gling par ti ci ple |ˈdaNGg (ə )liNG ˌdæŋɡəlɪŋ ˈpɑrdəsɪpəl | ▶noun Grammar a participle intended to modify a noun that is not actually present in the text. usage: A participle is a word formed as an inflection of the verb, such as arriving or arrived. A dangling participle is one left “hanging ” because, in the grammar of the clause, it does not relate to the noun it should. In the sentence arriving at the station, she picked up her case, the construction is correct because the participle arriving and the subject she relate to each other ( she is the one doing the arriving ). But in the following sentence, a dangling participle has been created: arriving at the station, the sun came out. We know, logically, that it is not the sun that is arriving, but grammatically that is exactly the link that has been created. Such errors are frequent in written English and can give rise to confusion.

dangling

dan |gling |ˈdaŋg (ə )lɪŋ, ˈdaŋglɪŋ | ▶adjective hanging or swinging loosely: a pair of dangling earrings.

dangling participle

dan |gling par ¦ti |ciple ▶noun Grammar a participle intended to modify a noun which is not actually present in the text. usage: A participle is a word formed as an inflection of the verb, such as arriving or arrived. A dangling participle is one which is left ‘hanging ’ because, in the grammar of the clause, it does not relate to the noun it should. In the sentence arriving at the station, she picked up her case the construction is correct because the participle arriving and the subject she relate to each other ( she is the one doing the arriving ). But in the following sentence, a dangling participle has been created: arriving at the station, the sun came out. We know, logically, that it is not the sun which is arriving but grammatically that is exactly the link which has been created. Such errors are frequent, even in written English, and can give rise to genuine confusion.

dangling

dangling adjective her dangling earrings: hanging, drooping, droopy, suspended, pendulous, pendent, trailing, flowing, tumbling; hanging limply, sagging. WORD TOOLKIT See sagging . Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close synonyms by means of words typically used with them.

dangling

dangling adjective she had long, dangling earrings: hanging, drooping, droopy, suspended, supported from above, pendulous, pendent, swinging, swaying, trailing, flowing, falling, tumbling; rare pensile. WORD TOOLKIT dangling See sagging . Word Toolkits illustrate the difference between close synonyms by means of words typically used with them.