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hang tight

verb

Etymology

From hang + tight, possibly in part from a blend of hang on + hold tight.

  1. derived from *ten-✻ — “to stretch, pull”
  2. derived from *tenkt-✻ — “dense, thick, tight”
  3. inherited from *þinhtaz✻
  4. inherited from *þį̄ht(ī)✻
  5. inherited from *þiht✻
  6. inherited from tight
  7. formed as hang tight — “hang + tight”

Definitions

  1. To wait, without attempting to address a challenging, alarming, or dangerous situation,…

    To wait, without attempting to address a challenging, alarming, or dangerous situation, until a later point in time.

    • And should a really large payoff be hit, a jackpot, the machines will make a bunch of noise, a light may go off atop the machine and you just hang tight, a casino employee should be there soon to give you the payoff.
    • I'll call you back when I've got someone in the air. I'll need your coordinates at that time. In the interim, you're going to have to hang tight, buddy.

  2. To grasp tightly.

    • “Well, ya better hang tight cause when these boys take off yull be in fer the ride ofa lifetime.”
    • Then Lobo whispered to Mirella, “Hang tight,” and propelled the airbike forward, taking off with a loud roar of the engines. She didn't need to hang tight though because he crossed one arm over her chest and pressed her to him.

The neighborhood

Vish — recursive loop

No curated loop yet for hang tight. Loops are being traced one word at a time while the ingestion pipeline matures.

sense glosses and etymology drawn from English Wiktionary · source · CC-BY-SA