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• hang-up
  hang-up

  noun

  a preoccupation, fixation, or psychological block; complex.
• hang up
  hang up

  verb

  (tr) to put on a hook, hanger, etc

hang-up

American  

[hang-uhp] / ˈhæŋˌʌp /

Or hangup

noun

Slang.

1. a preoccupation, fixation, or psychological block; complex.

   His hang-up is trying to outdo his brother.

2. a source of annoying difficulty or burden; impediment; snag.

   The most serious hang-up the project has is a shortage of funds.

3. a fixture, object, or decoration that can be affixed to a wall, ceiling, other objects, etc..

   He brightened up the room with flower baskets and other hang-ups.

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hang up British  

verb

1. (tr) 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. informal to cause to have an emotional or psychological preoccupation or problem

   he's really hung up on his mother

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noun

1. an emotional or psychological preoccupation or problem

2. a persistent cause of annoyance

hang up Idioms  

1. Suspend on a hook or hanger, as in Let me hang up your coat for you . [c. 1300]

2. Also, hang up on . Replace a telephone receiver in its cradle; end a phone conversation. For example, She hung up the phone , or He hung up on her . [Early 1900s]

3. Delay or hinder; also, become halted or snagged, as in Budget problems hung up the project for months , or Traffic was hung up for miles . [Second half of 1800s]

4. Have or cause to have emotional difficulties, as in Being robbed at gunpoint can hang one up for years to come . [ Slang ; early 1900s]

5. hung up on . Obsessed with, as in For years the FBI was hung up on Communist spies . [First half of 1900s]

6. . Quit, retire, as in He's hanging up his sword next year and moving to Florida . The noun in these expressions refers to the profession one is leaving— sword for the military, gloves for boxing, and fiddle for music—but they all are used quite loosely as well, as in the example.

7. hang up one's hat . Settle somewhere, reside, as in “Eight hundred a year, and as nice a house as any gentleman could wish to hang up his hat in” (Anthony Trollope, The Warden , 1855).

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Etymology

Origin of hang-up

First recorded in 1955–60; noun use of verb phrase hang up

Example Sentences

Johnson: The whole commute, I’m trying to get them to eventually hang up.

From Los Angeles Times • May 13, 2026

So when your relative calls claiming they’ve been kidnapped, you’ll know to hang up if they can’t name your first pet.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 19, 2026

I said I want Derek to hang up the gloves regardless, but what Wilder does next if he wins really depends on the manner of the victory.

From BBC • Apr. 1, 2026

The Spaniard capped a remarkable comeback from injury last year, winning his first championship since 2019 after a gruelling struggle that almost forced him to hang up his helmet.

From Barron's • Feb. 25, 2026

Here we had found the greatest hero of all time, and he'd decided to hang up his sword belt.

From "City of the Plague God" by Sarwat Chadda

Related Words

• inhibition