straphanger
noun
strap·hang·er ˈstrap-ˌhaŋ-ər 
: a standing passenger in a subway, streetcar, bus, or train who clings for support to one of the short straps or similar devices placed along the aisle
straphang
ˈstrap-ˌhaŋ
intransitive verb 
Example Sentences
Recent Examples on the Web The videos shared on social media are like something calculated to bring a New York straphanger to the edge of a deep and primal panic, and possibly over that edge. 
Willy Blackmore, Curbed, 20 July 2021 New York City police announced Tuesday the arrest of a homeless man suspected of pushing a straphanger into the subway tracks in Brooklyn over the weekend. Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, 24 Nov. 2020 In addition to the three separate assault complaints from Sunday night’s arraignment, Ventura was arrested on Oct. 17 for allegedly assaulting a straphanger in the West Fourth Street subway station. Fox News, 17 Nov. 2020 Transit activists, transit executives, disability-rights advocates, labor leaders, bus and subway workers, good-government gadflies, and straphangers from every borough expressed shock and dismay. William Finnegan, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2020 This ride must be demolished immediately, and replaced with one where kids pack into buses and take 45 minutes to go half a mile while averting their face from the prominently odorous armpit of an adjacent straphanger. James Lileks, National Review, 24 Oct. 2019 No one scoffed outright at my Thom Browne kilt, but any straphangers who noticed me seemed to very quickly avert their gaze. Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 24 June 2019 The straphanger suffered bruising and swelling to his face. Katherine Lam, Fox News, 2 Oct. 2018 The straphanger suffered bruising and swelling to his face. Katherine Lam, Fox News, 2 Oct. 2018 See More
Willy Blackmore, Curbed, 20 July 2021 New York City police announced Tuesday the arrest of a homeless man suspected of pushing a straphanger into the subway tracks in Brooklyn over the weekend. Stephanie Pagones, Fox News, 24 Nov. 2020 In addition to the three separate assault complaints from Sunday night’s arraignment, Ventura was arrested on Oct. 17 for allegedly assaulting a straphanger in the West Fourth Street subway station. Fox News, 17 Nov. 2020 Transit activists, transit executives, disability-rights advocates, labor leaders, bus and subway workers, good-government gadflies, and straphangers from every borough expressed shock and dismay. William Finnegan, The New Yorker, 20 Feb. 2020 This ride must be demolished immediately, and replaced with one where kids pack into buses and take 45 minutes to go half a mile while averting their face from the prominently odorous armpit of an adjacent straphanger. James Lileks, National Review, 24 Oct. 2019 No one scoffed outright at my Thom Browne kilt, but any straphangers who noticed me seemed to very quickly avert their gaze. Jacob Gallagher, WSJ, 24 June 2019 The straphanger suffered bruising and swelling to his face. Katherine Lam, Fox News, 2 Oct. 2018 The straphanger suffered bruising and swelling to his face. Katherine Lam, Fox News, 2 Oct. 2018 See More Word History
First Known Use
1896, in the meaning defined above