From Longman Dictionary of Contemporary Englishhang over something/somebody phrasal verbPROBABLYif something bad is hanging over you, you are worried or anxious about it The threat of redundancy was still hanging over us. It’s not very nice to have huge debts hanging over your head. → hang→ See Verb table
Examples from the Corpus
hang over • It hangs over any thickness of wardrobe rail and fastens with Velcro.• The enigmatic thing was the great pall of suspicion hanging over such an ordinary - appearing man.• If the bolts were responsible, then a further question mark will hang over the future of the industry.• In the Chouf now, the Druze holy colours hang over the militia checkpoints.• The excess should hang over the sides of the dish.• The last time I went down there, the uncovered pier was still hanging over the slate-gray water.• The question of motive hangs over these first pages, and over the whole novel.• For the first time since 1991, no threat of labor problems hangs over this season.hanging over ... head• Meanwhile, Napster goes from strength to strength, despite the legal case hanging over its head.• Most unpleasant having something like that hanging over your head.• Southampton were ordered to pay just £5,000 up front with the rest hanging over their head.• It's been hanging over my head like the sword of Damocles.• His colleagues admit while the charges were hanging over his head they had trouble getting funding. 