How to Use hang back in a Sentence

hang back

verb
  • Dad is hanging back in the doorway.
    — Literary Hub, 24 Nov. 2025
  • If friends seem to need your support near the 30th, don’t hang back.
    — Katharine Merlin, Town & Country, 16 Apr. 2023
  • Mom quickly catches up in just a few strides as the cub hangs back to wait for her.
    — Brooke Baitinger, Sacbee.com, 8 Apr. 2025
  • Cheptegei hung back and then, at the right moment, turned on the burners.
    — Marcus Thompson Ii, The Athletic, 2 Aug. 2024
  • Pick up a few of the travel prints and turn them into a series to frame and hang back home.
    — Lane Nieset, Forbes, 14 Jan. 2025
  • Asia hangs back from fetch, left; and right, Kiki gives her space to chase the ball at her own pace.
    — Rachael O'Connor, MSNBC Newsweek, 20 Aug. 2025
  • The security guards curse and hang back.
    — Matthew Shen Goodman, Harpers Magazine, 19 Sep. 2025
  • But the wariest mature bucks often hang back in the woods even farther.
    — Gerald Almy, Field & Stream, 17 Sep. 2020
  • When a new door opens, the mom’s reaction is usually to hang back.
    — Vicky Hallett, Washington Post, 13 Dec. 2022
  • Or about the soldier who hung back, too scared to go to the front, and then was killed when a missile struck their base.
    — Whitney Leaming, Washington Post, 23 Feb. 2023
  • Still you must be tempted to stay home on Saturdays or at least hang back in the kitchen?
    — Courtney Shea, refinery29.com, 1 Sep. 2021
  • Success is about understanding when to move forward, when to hang back and when to dodge.
    — Joseph Ferriolo, Forbes, 18 Jan. 2022
  • In a shock ending, Lopez asks one member to hang back — not Affleck.
    — Antonia Debianchi, Peoplemag, 12 Feb. 2024
  • Some have also chosen to hang back because of Covid concerns.
    — NBC News, 9 Sep. 2021
  • The jury, many of whom hung back for a meet-and-greet with the actor, went with Spacey’s version.
    — Mary McNamara, Los Angeles Times, 28 July 2023
  • Most bystanders hung back, but Pittenger’s sister took action.
    — Hanna Wickes, Miami Herald, 11 Mar. 2026
  • The little girl simply did not want to head out the door to summer camp, finding any and all excuses to hang back.
    — Maureen Salamon, Chicago Tribune, 16 Aug. 2023
  • As some of the protesters file out, a couple of them, including Watkins, hang back.
    — Rachel Monroe, Harper’s Magazine , 18 Jan. 2022
  • While Judy tends to overdo it, Nick hangs back in his easygoing way and lets things fall into place.
    — Katie Grant, Parents, 25 Nov. 2025
  • Despite his love of the spotlight, the high priest opted to hang back, a calculated effort to play it cool.
    — Alex Bhattacharji, Rolling Stone, 4 Aug. 2024
  • For many global companies and banks, hanging back will be the easiest and safest course of action.
    — Eric Lorber, Foreign Affairs, 15 July 2015
  • Finke again tried his signature move — hanging back before blitzing past the leaders in a mad dash to the final wall.
    — Rick Maese, Washington Post, 31 July 2024
  • Some investors like to hang back and monitor a stock’s performance before making a move.
    — Billboard, 18 Feb. 2021
  • But where there’s a crowd, there are usually a few individuals that hang back — they’re known as loners.
    — Erica Tennenhouse, Discover Magazine, 24 Apr. 2020
  • Meanwhile, their fathers hang back, observing, cracking wise about their teens' antics.
    — Natalie Escobar, NPR, 12 May 2026
  • Police ask Brown for his identification and ask him to hang back and not go to the car, the bodycam footage shows.
    — Staff Report, Hartford Courant, 7 June 2024
  • In other words, there are no winners, no losers, no awards, and many participants will hang back with the slowest person.
    — Claire Reid, Journal Sentinel, 20 May 2024
  • Hammer staffers will lay them out and either discuss the works with guests or hang back and let visitors connect privately with the art.
    — Deborah Vankin, Los Angeles Times, 21 Mar. 2023
  • The courts have been hanging back, awaiting the results of Tuesday’s balloting.
    — Philip Elliott, Time, 31 Mar. 2025
  • Job openings in these areas remain high, but are going unfilled as workers hang back for health and child care reasons and in hopes of better prospects.
    — NBC News, 27 Jan. 2022

Some of these examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'hang back.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

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