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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.

• hang-ups
  plural

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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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• hang-ups
  plural

Etymology

Origin of hang-up

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

hang-up hang up hang-ups

The biggest hang-up with his nomination was not that there was a lack of organic support among Senate Republicans.

From Slate ● Apr. 25, 2026

Here’s my hang-up: Artificial intelligence genuinely freaks me out.

From MarketWatch ● Apr. 24, 2026

The hang-up was over the potential for Nvidia processors to eventually end up in China.

From Barron's ● Nov. 3, 2025

Trump has reportedly had a hang-up about his mitts since Greydon Carter's Spy magazine called him a "short-fingered vulgarian" three decades ago.

From Salon ● Oct. 24, 2024

Maybe it was my own personal hang-up, but I felt like both girls were waiting to see if I would flip out or something.

From "100 Sideways Miles" by Andrew Smith

Readers offered plenty of advice to one another: hang up, call authorities, avoid unknown numbers and skip random links and texts.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

One pictures McConnell’s aides staring at the hospital clock, counting the seconds until 20 minutes have passed, and being pleased to inform the senator that he can hang up.

From Slate ● Jul. 11, 2026

Its Intel profits alone would make Gordon Gekko hang up his suspenders.

From Barron's ● May 29, 2026

Usyk, who extended his undefeated record to 25 wins, consistently said in the build-up to this bout that he still wanted to fight on two more occasions before considering whether to hang up the gloves.

From BBC ● May 24, 2026

Ms. Singh is frowning at me when I hang up.

From "How to Disappear Completely" by Ali Standish

These unofficial sessions, in which Daphne recalls wholesome, inspiring moments of communion with Eddie, cure her of pretty much all her childhood hang-ups.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 29, 2026

In the album "we advocate for a youth free from hang-ups, a cultural reappropriation, a new relationship with the world" he said.

From Barron's ● Feb. 23, 2026

It allowed Elordi to renounce any hang-ups, surrendering to a fugue state of mind.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 16, 2025

The actor’s later roles in “Quartet,” 2011’s “The Best Exotic Marigold Hotel” and others reflect a shedding of vanity and hang-ups that Violet couldn’t quite release, all honest reflections of aging.

From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2024

And in any case, he would never go back to her, not after everything she did to him, to us—all the harassment, all those late-night phone calls, hang-ups, text messages.

From "The Girl on the Train" by Paula Hawkins

Related Words

• inhibition