Meaning & use
hanging out
Last updated
“hanging out” is a form of “hang out”. See that entry for the full set of meanings.
Meaning
phraseidiominformal
Spending time relaxing with friends, without a particular plan or purpose.
Grammar: Used as a continuous verb phrase; the base form is 'hang out'. It is intransitive, so you say 'We were hanging out', not 'We were hanging out us'.
Patterns
- hanging out with someone
- hanging out at a place
- hanging out together
We spent the afternoon hanging out at the park.
She likes hanging out with her cousins on weekends.
They were just hanging out and listening to music.
Word forms
| base form | hang out |
|---|---|
| third person singular | hangs out |
| past tense | hung out |
| past participle | hung out |
| -ing form | hanging out |
Common combinations
- just hanging out
- We're not doing anything special—just hanging out.
- hanging out with friends
- He enjoys hanging out with friends after school.
- hanging out at the mall
- The teenagers were hanging out at the mall.
- spend time hanging out
- They spend a lot of time hanging out together.
Synonyms and how they differ
- spending time
- More general and neutral; 'hanging out' specifically suggests relaxed, informal socializing.
- socializing
- A more formal word that focuses on interacting with others, often in organized settings.
Word family
- hangout noun
- A place where people often go to relax together.
Commonly confused: hanging out or hanging up?
hanging out vs hanging up
Means ending a phone call or putting clothes on a hook; not the same as spending time with friends.
Practice
Choose the correct sentence:
Choose one answer.
'Hanging out' is followed by 'with' before the person you spend time with. The other prepositions do not fit this meaning.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hanging out”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.