1. [n]  the act of suspending something (hanging it from above so it moves freely); "there was a small ceremony for the hanging of the portrait"
2. [n]  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"
3. [n]  decoration that is hung (as a tapestry) on a wall or over a window; "the cold castle walls were covered with hangings"
4. [adj]  supported from above; "the child dabbled his dangling feet in the water"; "fuchsias in hanging pots"; "pendent bunches of grapes"; "a suspended fireplace"

1. \Hang"ing\, a.
   1. Requiring, deserving, or foreboding death by the halter.
      ``What a hanging face!'' --Dryden.
   2. Suspended from above; pendent; as, hanging shelves.
   3. Adapted for sustaining a hanging object; as, the hanging
      post of a gate, the post which holds the hinges.
   {Hanging compass}, a compass suspended so that the card may
      be read from beneath.
   {Hanging garden}, a garden sustained at an artificial
      elevation by any means, as by the terraces at Babylon.
   {Hanging indentation}. See under {Indentation}.
   {Hanging rail} (Arch.), that rail of a door or casement to
      which hinges are attached.
   {Hanging side} (Mining), the overhanging side of an inclined
      or hading vein.
   {Hanging sleeves}.
      (a) Strips of the same stuff as the gown, hanging down the
          back from the shoulders.
      (b) Loose, flowing sleeves.
   {Hanging stile}. (Arch.)
      (a) That stile of a door to which hinges are secured.
      (b) That upright of a window frame to which casements are
          hinged, or in which the pulleys for sash windows are
          fastened.
   {Hanging wall} (Mining), the upper wall of inclined vein, or
      that which hangs over the miner's head when working in the
      vein.
   

2. \Hang"ing\, n.
   1. The act of suspending anything; the state of being
      suspended.
   2. Death by suspension; execution by a halter.
   3. That which is hung as lining or drapery for the walls of a
      room, as tapestry, paper, etc., or to cover or drape a
      door or window; -- used chiefly in the plural.
            Nor purple hangings clothe the palace walls.
                                                  --Dryden.
   

(as a punishment), a mark of infamy inflicted on the dead bodies of criminals (Deut. 21:23) rather than our modern mode of punishment. Criminals were first strangled and then hanged (Nu. 25:4; Deut. 21:22). (See 2 Sam. 21:6 for the practice of the Gibeonites.)

Hanging (as a curtain). (1.) Heb. masak, (a) before the entrance to the court of the tabernacle (Ex. 35:17); (b) before the door of the tabernacle (26:36, 37); (c) before the entrance to the most holy place, called "the veil of the covering" (35:12; 39:34), as the word properly means.

(2.) Heb. kelaim, tapestry covering the walls of the tabernacle (Ex. 27:9; 35:17; Num. 3:26) to the half of the height of the wall (Ex. 27:18; comp. 26:16). These hangings were fastened to pillars.

(3.) Heb. bottim (2 Kings 23:7), "hangings for the grove" (R.V., "for the Asherah"); marg., instead of "hangings," has "tents" or "houses." Such curtained structures for idolatrous worship are also alluded to in Ezek. 16:16.