1
as in keeping up
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2
as in holding on
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Dissimilar Words
Example Sentences
Recent Examples of Synonyms for hanging on
Verb
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Pretty quickly, Matt committed to keeping up appearances.—
Hannah Keyser,
CNN Money,
1 Feb. 2026 -
Grid bottlenecks hamper Indian renewables growth India’s energy grid isn’t keeping up with a surge in clean power.—
Prashant Rao,
semafor.com,
11 Nov. 2025
Verb
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Amid all that, Varsity Blues — about a Texas high-school football team rebelling against its abusive coach and holding on to one last gasp of glory before graduation — got a little lost.—
Roxana Hadadi,
Vulture,
11 Feb. 2026
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Also, Southern California visits Nebraska with both sides holding on for dear life.—
Jordan Mendoza,
USA Today,
31 Oct. 2025
Verb
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In another clip, the person walks up to the home, head down, wearing a dark zip-up jacket, light pants, a backpack, and what appears to be a weapon in a holster hanging around their waist.—
Taijuan Moorman,
USA Today,
10 Feb. 2026
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Restaurants, shops, and parks — lots of old weirdos hanging around.—
Katie McDonough,
Curbed,
9 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Each year, the world's top tennis players descend on the US for the Sunshine Double—BNP in California followed by the Miami Open—those who were cut quickly from the former often stop in for some rallies in Arizona before carrying on to Florida.—
David Shaftel,
Condé Nast Traveler,
10 Feb. 2026
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Over the weekend, business leaders offered a mix of responses after federal agents shot Alex Pretti in Minneapolis, revealing yet again how one of America’s most powerful cohorts is — publicly, at least — carrying on with business as usual.—
Allison Morrow,
CNN Money,
27 Jan. 2026
Verb
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Researchers hope that the TAL system could eventually be a viable strategy for patients who are waiting for donor lungs — specifically, those with severe acute respiratory distress syndrome (ARDS) along with necrotizing pneumonia or septic shock.—
Melissa Rudy,
FOXNews.com,
5 Feb. 2026
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Officers then moved in on the nurses who did not give way, zip-tied their hands and led them to waiting police vans.—
Barry Williams,
New York Daily News,
5 Feb. 2026
Verb
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Are those customers sticking around?—
Megan Poinski,
Forbes.com,
28 Jan. 2026
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Is winter sticking around or is an early spring ahead?—
Marina Johnson,
Louisville Courier Journal,
28 Jan. 2026
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Cite this Entry
“Hanging on.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/hanging%20on. Accessed 15 Feb. 2026.
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