Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. a loiterer, someone who spends a lot of time at a place.

1989

P. Munro Sl. U.

2. (also hang spot) a place where one ‘hangs out’.

1989		P. Munro Sl. U.
1996		(con. 1964-65) B. Thorpe Sex and Thugs and Rock ’n’ Roll 151: The Spaghetti bar [...] had become the band’s official hang.
1997–2001		Online Sl. Dict. 🌐 hang [...] n 1. a place at which one relaxes.
2004		N. Kelley ‘The Code’ in Brooklyn Noir 174: Two unfamiliar niggaz unexpectedly approached him at his local hang spot.
2010		K. Richards Life 27: One of our hangs was a pillbox, an old machine gun post [Ibid.] 54: The ice-cream parlor-coffee shop There was a jukebox there, so it was a hang.
2017		D. Winslow The Force [ebook] The old Lenox Lounge [...] was a hang for James Baldwin, Langston Hughes and Malcolm X .
2020		D. Winslow ‘Sunset’ in Broken 181: Duke’s short, stubby fingers can reach out and grab him in any of his old hangs.

3. a social occasion, a rock or other concert, a party.

1995

N.Y. jazz musician, age 32 (coll. J. Sheidlower) n.p.: A gig is ‘a hang,’ so you say things like ‘That was a good hang’ [HDAS].

4. time spent relaxing, loitering.

1989		R.G. Barrett Boys from Binjiwunyawunya 20: He went down to North Bondi for a hang in the sun.
1991		D. Gaines Teenage Wasteland 63: That’s the art of street hang. Telling stories, throwing the bull, smackin’ your gums.
1995		N.Y. jazz musician, age 32 (coll. J. Sheidlower) n.p.: A gig is ‘a hang,’ so you say things like ‘That was a good hang.’ But you use it in general too: ‘Do you want to have a hang tonight?’ meaning just ‘Do you want to hang out?,’ or ‘That was a good hang’ meaning ‘That was a pleasant evening.’ [HDAS].
1995		Time Out N.Y. 18 Oct. 83: [personal ad] SWF...seeks a male companion to drink, laugh, and do the hang with [HDAS].
2002		D.H. Sterry Chicken (2003) 123: You’ll get some ice cream, have a hang in 3-D, and see if Sunny’s got some sweet young baby for you to swing with.
2015		‘Elvis Costello’ Unfaithful Music 624: Pete [Thomas] came back from a late-night hang to report that Levon’s idea of a party was to order everything on the room-service menu [etc].