dangle

1. (intransitive) To hang loosely with the ability to swing.Examples: "His feet are dangling in the water."; "He'd rather on a gibbet dangle / Than miss his dear delight, to wrangle."; "From her lifted hand / Dangled a length of ribbon."intransitive

2. (intransitive, slang, ice hockey, lacrosse) The action of performing a move or deke with the puck in order to get past a defender or goalie; perhaps because of the resemblance to dangling the puck on a string.Examples: "He dangled around three players and the goalie to score."intransitiveslang

3. (transitive) To hang or trail something loosely.Examples: "I like to sit on the edge and dangle my feet in the water."transitive

4. (transitive, figurative, by extension) To put forth as a possibility.Examples: "That it happens to have been produced under the imprimatur of Michael Bay dangles the possibility of poor taste, but unfortunately, bombast and conspicuous consumption are nowhere to be found."broadlyfigurativelytransitive

5. (intransitive, dated) To trail or follow around.Examples: "To dangle at the elbow of a wench who can't make up her mind to accept the common title of wife, till she has been courted a certain number of weeks — so the old blinker, her father, says."datedintransitive

6. (medicine, intransitive) Of a patient: to be positioned with the legs hanging over the edge of the bed.Examples: "Record the time and duration of dangling, patient's pulse and respirations and patient's general tolerance of the procedure. […] The next step usually in getting the patient out of bed is sitting […]"; "[P]ivot to bring the patient's legs over the side of the bed. Be Smart! Stay with the patient as he dangles."intransitive