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

From Barron's

They don't have a hang-up about the French the way they do against the Irish.

From BBC

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

Among those 16 states, the average call center wait time was 25 minutes and the average hang-up rate was 29%.

From Seattle Times

The cost was a hang-up, however, with Democratic budget leaders this session deciding to prioritize dollars for existing programs rather than new programs, he said.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• inhibition