Definition of "dangle" [dan•gle]

• To hang loosely and swing or sway to and fro. (verb-intransitive)
• To be a hanger-on. (verb-intransitive)
• To cause to hang loosely or swing. (verb-transitive)
• To cause (one's expectations or hopes) to hang uncertainly or remain unresolved. (verb-transitive)
• The act or an instance of dangling. (noun)

American Heritage(R) Dictionary of the English Language, Fifth Edition. Copyright (c) 2011 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.

• "Thirty years before, I asked Jim Angleton of the CIA if the Nosenko walk-in was what he called a dangle, and he waved me on."
• "What about those things some people dangle from the rear of their trucks?"
• "Didn't he dangle from the aerial tram for a rope rescue demonstration?"