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Business English vocabulary · Phone and Video Calls

Hang up

Meaning in business english, with examples

/ˌhæŋ ˈʌp/phrasal verbCore term

In business english, hang up means: To end a phone call by pressing a button or putting the phone down; on video calls, to leave the call.

In Turkish: telefonu kapatmak, kapatmak

How it is used

'Don't hang up' asks someone to stay on the line. 'Hang up on someone' means ending the call suddenly while they are still talking, which is rude. The past tense is 'hung up'.

Example sentences

  1. Please don't hang up; I'll just check the order details.

  2. I'm going to hang up and call you back from my desk phone.

Common collocations

  • hang up the phone
  • hang up on someone
  • don't hang up
  • hang up and call back
  • call backTo phone someone who called you earlier, or to phone someone again later.
  • hold onTo wait for a short time, especially on the phone while the other person checks something or transfers the call.
  • put throughTo connect a caller to the person or department they want to speak to, usually done by a receptionist or switchboard.
  • drop offTo leave an online meeting or call before it ends, either on purpose or because the connection is lost.

This word in other fields

The same English word can have a different meaning in another field:

More terms: Phone and Video Calls

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