English▸ noun Grammar a participle intended to modify a noun which is not actually present in the text.
A participle is a word formed as an inflection of the verb, such as arriving or arrived. A dangling participle is one left “hanging” because, in the grammar of the clause, it does not relate to the noun it should. In the sentence arriving at the station, she picked up her case, the construction is correct because the participle arriving and the subject she relate to each other (she is the one doing the arriving). But in the following sentence, a dangling participle has been created: arriving at the station, the sun came out. We know, logically, that it is not the sun that is arriving, but grammatically that is exactly the link that has been created. Such errors are frequent in written English and can give rise to confusion.