hang up

phraseA22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To hang up is to end a phone call. From the days when the handset physically hung on a hook.

The gesture survives in the word long after the hook disappeared, which is one of the neatest examples of language outlasting its object. Hanging up on somebody means ending the call while they are still talking, and it is a real insult. The noun a hang-up means a lasting anxiety about something, as in having a hang-up about being photographed, and that sense is entirely separate.

Definitions of hang up

1phrasehang upTo end a telephone call.A2
“Do not hang up before I give you the number.”
2phraseplaceTo place something on a hook or hanger.A2
“Hang up your coat by the door.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word

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hang up

phraseA22 meaningsNot compared — the two pools are counted one word at a time, so a phrase has no score

To hang up is to end a phone call. From the days when the handset physically hung on a hook.

Definitions of hang up

1phrasehang upTo end a telephone call.A2
“Do not hang up before I give you the number.”
2phraseplaceTo place something on a hook or hanger.A2
“Hang up your coat by the door.”

Practised in Phrasal Verbs, A Man Called Ove

First appears in chapter 3 of A Man Called Ove.

Practise this word