dangling participle

English

Examples
  • present participle: "Waking the men, the corpse was immediately rolled up in the strips of blanketing upon which it lay, and carried on deck." — Herman Melville
    (It is not the corpse that woke the men.)
  • past participle: "Built in 1871, there are said to be dozens of spirits that haunt this hospital building."
    (The spirits were not built in 1871: the hospital was.)

Noun

dangling participle (plural dangling participles)

  1. (grammar) Any participle used as a dangling modifier.
    Synonym: dangler (informal)
    Hypernyms: dangling modifier, dangler (informal)

Translations

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