hang-up

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noun

An exaggerated concern: complex. See fear/courage.

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.  hang up one's sword or gloves or fiddle. 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).

noun
noun

An emotional problem or inhibition. (1959 —) .
Black World Depressing piece about pushers, junkies, whores and their hang-ups (1973).

[Prob. from hung up adjective.]

Previous:	hang-out, hang, handle
Next:	hanky-panky, happening, happy

For a list of words related to hang-up, see:

• Mental States, Processes, and Behavior - hang-up: Slang. fixation or psychological block

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See words rhyming with "hang-up."

Dansk (Danish)
n. - kompleks, tvangsforestilling, betænkelighed, problem

Nederlands (Dutch)
overdreven voorkeur, ongemak, programmastop

Français (French)
n. - phobie, complexe, problème

Deutsch (German)
n. - Komplex

Ελληνική (Greek)
n. - (καθομ.) συναισθηματική αναστολή, κόμπλεξ (κν. κόλλημα), απογοήτευση

Italiano (Italian)
blocco (emozionale)

Português (Portuguese)
n. - problema (m) sem solução (gír.)

Русский (Russian)
подвесить, откладывать в долгий ящик

Español (Spanish)
n. - complejo, inhibición

Svenska (Swedish)
n. - fix idé, hinder, psykologiskt spärr

中文（简体）(Chinese (Simplified))
障碍, 大难题

中文（繁體）(Chinese (Traditional))
n. - 障礙, 大難題

한국어 (Korean)
n. - 심리적 장애, 콤플렉스, 약점, 몰두함

日本語 (Japanese)
n. - 気がかり

العربيه (Arabic)
‏(الاسم) تعليق ثوب, إنهاء مكالمه تلفونيه, تعليق مفاوضات‏

עברית (Hebrew)
n. - ‮תיסכול, תסביך, בעיה רגשית, עכבה‬

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