Sekirov Dictionary

hang up

verb 8
hang-up noun 2
forms 4

verb8

•
To put up to hang.
- I hung up my wash on the line.
•
To terminate a telephone call, originally by hanging the receiver on its hook or cradle thereby automatically disconnecting the line.
- When my mother started telling me to be careful over the phone, I threatened to hang up on her.
(figurative) To stop talking.
•
To quit (something); to give up or stop doing (something); to abandon (something).
- He hung up the flute after college.
- I think it's time to hang it up.
•
(informal) To keep delayed, suspended, held up, or stuck.
- Seeing you's all I've been thinking about. You know I wouldn't hang you up this way if it wasn't for a damned good reason. — 1986
•
To arrest (someone); to send (someone) to prison.
- So call up Trudy on the telephone / Send her a letter in the mail / Tell her I'm hung up in Dallas / They won't let me out of this jail — 1971
To distress, disadvantage or harm (someone).
To rob or mug (someone).

hang-up noun2

•
(informal) An emotional difficulty or a psychological inhibition, in particular concerning one's sex life.
- We’re said to have so many hang-ups that we don’t even talk about sex until we’re in the pub, and to need to be blind drunk before anything approaching physical contact occurs. — 2013
•
An unforeseen obstacle to progress; a hitch or delay.
- What a hang up I got into at once! As I look back on it it's incredible that I could have been so damned dumb. — 1951

forms

hung up · hanging up · hangs up · hang-ups

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