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dangle [intransitive, transitive] to hang or move freely; to hold something so that it hangs or moves freely

+adv./prep. Gold charms dangled from her bracelet.

A single light bulb dangled from the ceiling.

He sat on the edge with his legs dangling over the side.

dangle something + adv./prep. She dangled her car keys nervously as she spoke.

He dangled his legs over the edge of the bridge.

A child is holding a cable like this

enter image description here

is it okay to say "Don't dangle the cable on the floor like that, you may trip over it"?

Note: the cable touched the floor

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    I think you mean trip. That would make sense. Children are hopefully not stripping over anything.
    – stevekeiretsu
    Mar 29, 2020 at 3:04

2 Answers 2

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If it's touching the floor, the best verb is probably trail. https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/trail

"Don't let the cable trail on the floor."

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  • One extra question, how would we ask the child to keep it neatly? Fro example, "Please roll it into a ball", "Please keep it off the floor", or "Please coil it into a loop", etc
    – Tom
    Mar 29, 2020 at 9:18
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    "Please coil it up." ( A coil is made up of many loops.) If it's an electrical cable, I don't think you would roll it into a ball..
    – Kate Bunting
    Mar 29, 2020 at 9:34
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First, "dangle" has the sense of being unsupported on the bottom. Your illustration doesn't make clear if the end is touching the floor, but your comment clarified it, so the cable is not dangling,

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  • The cable touched the floor
    – Tom
    Mar 29, 2020 at 3:38

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