Green’s Dictionary of Slang

1. to delay, to hold up.

1887		Cornhill Mag. June 624: To hang up a bill is to pass it through one or more of its stages, and then to lay it aside, and defer its further consideration for a more or less indefinite period [F&H].
1916		‘Sapper’ ‘The Motor-Gun’ in Men, Women & Guns 35: The incredible heroism of the Canadians in hanging up the German left [flank].
1939		V. Davis Gentlemen of the Broad Arrows 219: Hop out of it, you are hanging the party up.
1967		P. Thomas Down These Mean Streets (1970) 119: We got hung up by a white clique from downtown as we were coming out of the RKO flick on 86th Street.
1970		D. Jenkins Saturday’s America 67: ‘They're gonna hang us up in that state fair traffic’.
1996		P. Cornwell Cause of Death (1997) 311: I’ll call you if I get hung up.
2017		R. Friedman Street Warrior 231: ‘I could be here until three, four in the morning, maybe later’ It was only 9 PM now. ‘I don’t want to hang you up.

2. (US) to place under arrest.

1956

(con. 1940s) J. Resko Reprieve 235: He’s got to hang me up for using stuff.

3. (US) to abandon, to give up on.

1986		J. Ellroy Suicide Hill 60: ‘Y.A. parole and County probation, both of which I'm hanging up, because car thief / mechanic is what my P.O. calls a “modus operandi—occupational stress combination”’.
2021		J. Ellroy Widespread Panic 79: He [...] hung up his parole, and went rogue.