onhanger
nounEtymology From on- + hanger. Compare West Frisian oanhinger, Dutch aanhanger, German Anhänger.
1
That which, or one who, hangs on to, relies on, or is dependent upon another; a dependent.
- 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.1821, Sir Walter Scott, Waverley:
- The seemingly widespread belief that aphasia is almost exclusively an onhanger of the apoplectic state seems to necessitate emphasizing the fact that some.1900, Joseph Collins, The Treatment of diseases of the nervous system:
1 more example
- The form is has no place in these sentences and seems to have been imported into them as an onhanger of it.1974, Anne D. Pick, Minnesota Symposia on Child Psychology:
- Related terms
- hanger-on