Hangar or hanger?
hangar is a noun meaning “A large garagelike structure where aircraft are kept”; hanger is a noun meaning “One who hangs, or causes to be hanged; a hangman, paper hanger, etc”. They sound the same (/ˈhæŋ.ə/). In written English (wordfreq, 2021 data) hangar is about as common as hanger.
What is the difference between hangar and hanger?
| hangar | hanger | |
|---|---|---|
| Part of speech | noun, verb | noun |
| Meaning | A large garagelike structure where aircraft are kept To store (an aircraft) in a hangar | One who hangs, or causes to be hanged; a hangman, paper hanger, etc A person who attempts suicide by hanging |
| Example | The plane taxied on over to the hangar for repairs | none recorded |
| Forms | hangars | hangers |
| Pronunciation | /ˈhæŋ.ə/ [ˈhæŋ.ə] /ˈhæŋ.ɚ/ | /ˈhæŋə/ /ˈhaŋə/ /ˈhæŋ.ɡəː/ |
| In writing | 1.9 times per million words | 1.7 times per million words |
Sources: hangar and hanger in the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
Every current meaning of hangar and hanger
hangar
- 1
A large garagelike structure where aircraft are kept
The plane taxied on over to the hangar for repairs
- 2
To store (an aircraft) in a hangar
hanger
- 1
One who hangs, or causes to be hanged; a hangman, paper hanger, etc
- 2
slangHunger and anger, especially when the anger is induced by the hunger
- 3
A person who attempts suicide by hanging
- 4
A strap hung to the girdle, by which a dagger or sword is suspended
- 5
A bridle iron
- 6
A clothes hanger
- 7
Ellipsis of derailleur hanger
- 8
A short and broad backsword, worn so to hang at the side, especially popular in the 18th century
Source: the English Wiktionary, dump of September 2, 2026 (CC BY-SA 4.0); obsolete, archaic, dialect and rare senses left out.
Which is more common, hangar or hanger?
hangar appears 1.9 times per million words; hanger 1.7 times per million words.
hangar 1.9 times per million wordshanger 1.7 times per million words
Source: written frequency: wordfreq 3.1 (a 2021 snapshot of Wikipedia, subtitles, news, books, web text and social media).
How many people search hangar vs hanger?
“hangar vs hanger” is searched about 1,900 times a month on Google and 100 on Bing in the United States. Google counts close variants of a query together (“hanger vs hangar”, “hangar or hanger”).
Sources: Google Ads keyword data through DataForSEO and Microsoft Advertising keyword data through DataForSEO, the average month from September 2025 to August 2026.