Dictionary

straphang en · VERB

Etymology

From strap + hang.

Meanings

1. (intransitive) To ride public transport while standing and holding onto a strap.
   • He straphung for five stops, pressed on three sides by a young Rastafarian wearing a green-suede pillbox hat, an elderly, tiny Chinese couple, and a coffee-coloured nurse who was literally asleep on her feet. 1989, Thomas Boyle, Only the dead know Brooklyn:
   • Unheeding the conductor's warning glare, Mr. Devine straphung, smiling, his lips forming soundless phrases as though he enjoyed a delightful, inaudible conversation. 1957, Brian Moore, The Feast of Lupercal:
   • Instead of having people coming from the outskirts, straphanging in omnibuses and trains, working in the centre under congested conditions in badly lit, insanitary buildings[…] 1932, Great Britain, Parliamentary debates: Official report: Volume 269:
   • It will take a long time for these commuters to come back. And clearly, from all the evidence we have so far, not many will be 'straphanging' five days per week. Indeed, straphanging itself may be a thing of the past. 2021 January 27, Christian Wolmar, “Investment, not cuts, is how to generate a big 'return to rail'”, in RAIL, issue 923, page 46:

Forms

Relateds

straphanger