Meaning & use
hang up the call
Last updated
Meanings
verbtransitive or intransitive
To end a phone conversation by pressing the button or replacing the receiver.
Grammar: Can be used with or without an object: 'She hung up' or 'She hung up the call'. The object usually comes after 'up'.
Patterns
- hang up the call
- hang up the phone
- hang up on someone
I had to hang up the call because my battery was about to die.
Please don't hang up the call until you've heard all the instructions.
She was so angry that she hung up the call without saying goodbye.
verbintransitive
To end a phone call abruptly, especially by putting the receiver down while the other person is still speaking.
Grammar: Often used with 'on': 'hang up on someone'. This sense emphasizes the rudeness or suddenness.
Patterns
- hang up on someone
He hung up on me in the middle of my sentence.
Don't hang up on the customer; let them finish speaking.
Word forms
| third person singular | hangs up the call |
|---|---|
| past tense | hung up the call |
| past participle | hung up the call |
| -ing form | hanging up the call |
Common combinations
- hang up the call
- I'll hang up the call after we finish discussing the schedule.
- hang up the phone
- She hung up the phone and went back to work.
- hang up on someone
- It's rude to hang up on someone during an argument.
- refuse to hang up the call
- He refused to hang up the call until he got an answer.
Synonyms and how they differ
- end the call
- This is more formal and neutral; it does not imply rudeness.
- disconnect
- This is more technical and often used for lost connections rather than a deliberate action.
- cut off
- This usually means the call was interrupted by a technical problem, not ended on purpose.
Opposites
Word family
- hang-up noun
- An emotional problem or a delay; not the same as the verb 'hang up'.
Commonly confused: hang up the call or hangup?
hang up the call vs hangup
As one word, 'hangup' is a noun meaning a psychological block or an unexpected delay. The verb is always two words: 'hang up'.
Practice
I was in the middle of explaining the problem when the line went dead; I think she ______.
Choose one answer.
'Hung up the call' is the correct past tense of 'hang up the call'. 'Hanged' is only used for execution. 'Hung up on the call' means she was obsessed with the call, which is wrong. 'Hang up' is present tense, but the sentence needs past.
Make it your own
Write a sentence using “hang up the call”, then check it and compare it with the examples above.