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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

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

“For non-football events, I think NFL players should be allowed to do it, but I do understand the league’s hang-up about the optics of allowing players to gamble on team grounds.”

From Seattle Times • Apr. 25, 2023

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

Related Words

• inhibition