What Does Hang Up the Phone Mean?

Vintage pink telephone on yellow background.
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Filed under - Definitions

Hang up the phone means to end or disconnect a phone call.

In the old days of corded telephones, the way that you ended a call was to put the telephone handset back onto the phone base (into a part of the phone called the cradle).

As time has passed and phones have become cordless phones or mobile phones, the phrase “hang up” is still applied to ending a call.

Examples of use

  • “I am going to hang up the phone now” – “I am going to end the call”
  • “If you continue to be rude, then I am going to hang up on you” – “If you carry on being rude, then I’ll end the call”
  • “I’ll process the order when you have hung up” – “After the call I will process the order”
  • “She hung up on me!” – “She disconnected the call”
  • “The caller hung up” – “The caller abandoned the call”

Can a Customer Service Agent Hang Up on a Caller?

The short answer is yes, but generally only in certain circumstances.

For a comprehensive guide of how contact centres can end phone calls, read this article: When Is It OK to Hang Up on a Customer?

Author: Robyn Coppell

Published On: 4th Aug 2022
Read more about - Definitions

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