"hang over someone's head" meaning in English

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hangs over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hanging over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hang<,,hung> over someone's head"
      },
      "expansion": "hang over someone's head (third-person singular simple present hangs over someone's head, present participle hanging over someone's head, simple past and past participle hung over someone's head)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "English entries with incorrect language header",
          "parents": [
            "Entries with incorrect language header",
            "Entry maintenance"
          ],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with 1 entry",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        },
        {
          "kind": "other",
          "name": "Pages with entries",
          "parents": [],
          "source": "w"
        }
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1978 April 15, “London's Gay News Loses Blasphemy Appeal”, in Gay Community News, page 3:",
          "text": "Lord Justice Roskill delivered the decision of the three justices, upholding the fines against the paper and editor Lemon. The justices also granted court costs to anti-gay crusader Mary Whitehouse, the person who brought the suit against the paper. A prison sentence hanging over Lemon's head was dismissed.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Patricia A. Millett et al., United States v. Stevens, Respondent's brief, page 22:",
          "text": "So Congress enacted a statute, the net effect of which is to hinge the freedom to speak on the speaker’s willingness to run the gauntlet of post hoc value assessments by prosecutors and juries with a five year felony sentence hanging over his head.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To threaten (someone); to act as a constant preoccupation for (someone)."
      ],
      "id": "en-hang_over_someone's_head-en-verb-cneOHr0Z",
      "links": [
        [
          "threaten",
          "threaten"
        ],
        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "constant",
          "constant"
        ],
        [
          "preoccupation",
          "preoccupation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To threaten (someone); to act as a constant preoccupation for (someone)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hang over someone's head"
}

{
  "forms": [
    {
      "form": "hangs over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "present",
        "singular",
        "third-person"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hanging over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "present"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "participle",
        "past"
      ]
    },
    {
      "form": "hung over someone's head",
      "tags": [
        "past"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "head_templates": [
    {
      "args": {
        "1": "hang<,,hung> over someone's head"
      },
      "expansion": "hang over someone's head (third-person singular simple present hangs over someone's head, present participle hanging over someone's head, simple past and past participle hung over someone's head)",
      "name": "en-verb"
    }
  ],
  "lang": "English",
  "lang_code": "en",
  "pos": "verb",
  "senses": [
    {
      "categories": [
        "English entries with incorrect language header",
        "English idioms",
        "English lemmas",
        "English multiword terms",
        "English terms with quotations",
        "English verbs",
        "Pages with 1 entry",
        "Pages with entries"
      ],
      "examples": [
        {
          "ref": "1978 April 15, “London's Gay News Loses Blasphemy Appeal”, in Gay Community News, page 3:",
          "text": "Lord Justice Roskill delivered the decision of the three justices, upholding the fines against the paper and editor Lemon. The justices also granted court costs to anti-gay crusader Mary Whitehouse, the person who brought the suit against the paper. A prison sentence hanging over Lemon's head was dismissed.",
          "type": "quote"
        },
        {
          "ref": "2010, Patricia A. Millett et al., United States v. Stevens, Respondent's brief, page 22:",
          "text": "So Congress enacted a statute, the net effect of which is to hinge the freedom to speak on the speaker’s willingness to run the gauntlet of post hoc value assessments by prosecutors and juries with a five year felony sentence hanging over his head.",
          "type": "quote"
        }
      ],
      "glosses": [
        "To threaten (someone); to act as a constant preoccupation for (someone)."
      ],
      "links": [
        [
          "threaten",
          "threaten"
        ],
        [
          "act",
          "act"
        ],
        [
          "constant",
          "constant"
        ],
        [
          "preoccupation",
          "preoccupation"
        ]
      ],
      "raw_glosses": [
        "(idiomatic) To threaten (someone); to act as a constant preoccupation for (someone)."
      ],
      "tags": [
        "idiomatic"
      ]
    }
  ],
  "word": "hang over someone's head"
}