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?
