If you hang up or you hang up the phone, you end a phone call. If you hang upon someone you are speaking to on the phone, you end the phone call suddenly and unexpectedly.
Mum hung up the phone. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
Don't hang up! [VERBPARTICLE]
He said he'd call again, and hung up on me. [VERBPARTICLE + on]
3. phrasal verb
You can use hang up to indicate that someone stops doing a particular sport or activity that they have regularly done over a long period. For example, when a footballer hangs up his or her boots, he or she stops playing football.
Keegan announced he was hanging up his boots for good. [VERBPARTICLE noun]
Looking back, she feels she should never have hung up her backpack. [VERBPARTICLE noun (not pronoun)]
[Also VERB noun PARTICLE]
4. See also hang-up, hung up
See full dictionary entry for hang
hang-up
Word forms: plural hang-ups
countable noun
If you have a hang-up about something, you have a feeling of fear, anxiety, or embarrassment about it.
[informal]
I don't have any hang-ups about my body. [+ about]
Synonyms: preoccupation, thing [informal], problem, block More Synonyms of hang up
hang up in British English
verb(adverb)
1. (transitive)
to put on a hook, hanger, etc
please hang up your coat
2.
to replace (a telephone receiver) on its cradle at the end of a conversation, often breaking a conversation off abruptly
3. (tr; usually passive; usually foll byon) informal
to cause to have an emotional or psychological preoccupation or problem
he's really hung up on his mother
nounhang-up informal
4.
an emotional or psychological preoccupation or problem
5.
a persistent cause of annoyance
hang-up in British English
(ˈhæŋʌp)
noun
1.
an emotional or psychological preoccupation or problem
She's got lots of hang-ups.
He's got a hang-up about flying.
I don't have any hang-ups about my body.
He has a hang-up about his big hips.
2.
a persistent cause of annoyance
hang up in American English
1.
to put on a hanger, hook, etc., esp. in the proper place
2. US
to put a telephone receiver or handset back in place in ending a call
3.
to delay or suspend the progress of
cars that are hung up in traffic
See full dictionary entry for hang
hang-up in American English
(ˈhæŋˌʌp)
US
noun
Slang
a problem or difficulty, esp. one of a personal or emotional nature that a person seems unable to deal with
Examples of 'hang up' in a sentence
hang up
Starting to hang up, he was halted by the sudden, startling change in the quality of the voice.
Delman, David DEATH OF A NYMPH
Time for the fishermen to haul in their boats, pull in the lobster pots, and hang up their nets for winter mending.
Tapply, William G THE DUTCH BLUE ERROR
She had no idea why she didn't just hang up on Lorraine Temple.
Peter Robinson AFTERMATH (2001)
Finally, he was able to hang up, drained from the experience.
Stuart Woods WORST FEARS REALIZED (1999)
Today that's not a hobby, that's a hang-up ," said Harriet.
Howatch, Susan ABSOLUTE TRUTHS (1995)
Mac's phone rang fifteen times before Stone jiggled the hang-up bar in exasperation to get the desk clerk back on the line.
Terman, Douglas CORMORANT (1995)
If you don't have a hang-up about dating a younger man, give me a call.
Barbara Delinsky TOGETHER ALONE (1995)
In other languages
hang up
British English: hang up /hæŋ ʌp/ VERB
If you hang up or you hang up the phone, you end a phone call.
Don't hang up!
American English: hang up
Arabic: يُنهِي مُكالَـمَةٌ هاتِفِيَّة
Brazilian Portuguese: desligar o telefone
Chinese: 挂断
Croatian: prekinuti razgovor telefonom
Czech: zavěsit telefon
Danish: lægge røret på
Dutch: ophangen telefoon
European Spanish: colgar cuadro
Finnish: sulkea puhelin
French: raccrocher
German: auflegen
Greek: κλείνω το τηλέφωνο
Italian: riattaccare
Japanese: 電話を切る
Korean: 전화를 끊다
Norwegian: legge på
Polish: zawiesić
European Portuguese: desligar o telefone
Romanian: a închide
Russian: повесить трубку при телефонном разговоре
Latin American Spanish: colgar
Swedish: hänga upp
Thai: วางหูโทรศัพท์
Turkish: telefonu kapatmak
Ukrainian: повісити слухавку
Vietnamese: dập máy
Chinese translation of 'hang up'
hang up
vi
(Tel) 挂(掛)断(斷)电(電)话(話) (guàduàn diànhuà)
vt
[coat, hat, clothes]挂(掛)起 (guàqǐ)
See hang
(noun)
Definition
an emotional or psychological problem
(informal)
I don't have any hang-ups about my body.
Synonyms
preoccupation
Success in her field has always been her preoccupation.
thing (informal)
She's got a thing about red hair.
problem
block
difficulty
obsession
yet another man with an obsession about football
mania
They had a mania for travelling.
inhibition
They behave with a total lack of inhibition.
phobia
fixation
Somebody has a fixation with you.
Additional synonyms
in the sense of fixation
Definition
an obsessive interest in something
Somebody has a fixation with you.
Synonyms
obsession,
complex (informal),
addiction,
hang-up (informal),
preoccupation,
mania,
infatuation,
idée fixe,
thing (informal)
in the sense of inhibition
Definition
a feeling of fear or embarrassment that stops one from behaving naturally