hang up

verb

hung up; hanging up; hangs up

transitive verb

1

a

: to place on a hook or hanger designed for the purpose

hang up your coat

b

: to replace (a telephone receiver) on the cradle so that the connection is broken

2

: to keep delayed, suspended, or held up

3

: to cause to stick or snag immovably

the ship was hung up on a sandbar

intransitive verb

1

: to break a telephone connection

2

: to become stuck or snagged so as to be immovable

Examples of hang up in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Lyman, along with Eric Tobin of Hopeless Records and Mike Kaminsky of KMGMT, who also teaches at USC, got together to create the Summer School tour, a traveling group of emerging pop-punk and indie acts, to try to fill the void left after Warped Tour temporarily hung up its cape in 2019. —Charlie Vargas, Daily News, 4 June 2026

The judge criticized Saenz for initiating some of the phone calls and not immediately hanging up when her son called, but did not hold her in contempt. —Shira Moolten, Sun Sentinel, 4 June 2026

After nearly 32 years in the fire service, Rocklin Fire Chief Reginald Williams is preparing to hang up his helmet. —Nicole Buss, Sacbee.com, 4 June 2026

Don’t rush to hang up big box store pieces solely to cover those bare walls. —Sarah Lyon, Southern Living, 3 June 2026

Word History

First Known Use

12th century, in the meaning defined at transitive sense 1a

Rhymes for hang up

• backup
• blowup
• breakup
• buildup
• checkup
• cleanup
• holdup
• hookup
• lineup
• lockup
• makeup
• markup

Kids Definition

hang-up

1 of 2 noun

ˈhaŋ-ˌəp

: a source of mental or emotional difficulty

hang up

2 of 2 verb

(ˈ)haŋ-ˈəp

1

a

: to place on a hook or hanger

hang up your coat

b

: to replace a telephone receiver on the cradle so that the connection is broken

also : to end a telephone conversation

2

: to snag or cause to snag so as to be immovable

a boat hung up on rocks