cliff-hang

or cliff·hang

[ klif-hang ]

verb (used without object)

, Informal.

, cliff-hung, cliff-hang·ing.

1. to wait eagerly for the outcome of a suspenseful situation or contest.

Word History and Origins

Origin of cliff-hang¹

First recorded in 1935–40

Example Sentences

On the problems of language and their solution he rather melodramatically makes man's future cliff-hang: "The next dimension of psychology, the step that may at last take us beyond a primitive mind/body empiricism, could well be semantic."

From Time Magazine Archive

A longtime critic of such programs, he decided that the cliff-hang ending had gone quite far enough.

From Time Magazine Archive

The sad fact is that Japanese audiences do not enjoy the soap opera's daily cliff-hang ending.

From Time Magazine Archive