ˈdæŋɡəlɪŋ(ɡ) səˈspɛnʃən the act of suspending something (hanging it from above so it moves freely) there was a small ceremony for the hanging of the portrait a form of capital punishment; victim is suspended by the neck from a gallows or gibbet until dead in those days the hanging of criminals was a public entertainment decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window the cold castle walls were covered with hangings