Phones are everywhere, and so are expressions about them! From funny sayings to serious advice, phone idioms help us describe situations in creative ways. Kids, ever wondered what adults mean when they say someone “hung up” on them? Let’s find out together what these idioms mean and see how they’re used in sentences!
Phone Idioms
Here are 20 phone idioms in English with meaning and example sentence for each.
1. Hang up your boots
Meaning: Retire from activity
Example: Grandpa finally hung up his boots from soccer.
2. Off the hook
Meaning: Free from responsibility
Example: I’m off the hook for doing chores today!
3. Ring a bell
Meaning: Sound familiar
Example: Does that song ring a bell?
4. Hold the phone
Meaning: Wait a minute
Example: Hold the phone, did you see that?
5. Call it a day
Meaning: Stop working for the day
Example: Let’s call it a day after this game.
6. Put you on hold
Meaning: Make you wait
Example: I was put on hold during the call.
7. Phone it in
Meaning: Do something with little effort
Example: He really phoned in his homework.
8. Wrong number
Meaning: A mistaken idea
Example: You’ve got the wrong number on that theory.
9. Dial it down
Meaning: Decrease intensity
Example: Dial it down, you’re too loud!
10. Connected at the hip
Meaning: Very close to someone
Example: They’re connected at the hip, always together.
11. Call the shots
Meaning: Make the decisions
Example: He calls the shots in their games.
12. Give someone a ring
Meaning: Call someone on the phone
Example: Give her a ring to invite her.
13. On call
Meaning: Available to work
Example: The doctor is on call tonight.
14. Call out
Meaning: Criticize publicly
Example: She called him out for cheating.
15. Line busy
Meaning: Engaged or occupied
Example: Sorry, the line’s busy right now.
16. Clear the line
Meaning: Stop communicating
Example: Clear the line; I need to think.
17. Pick up the phone
Meaning: Start a phone conversation
Example: She won’t pick up the phone.
18. Speak off the record
Meaning: Speak unofficially
Example: Let’s talk off the record.
19. The call of duty
Meaning: A moral obligation
Example: He answered the call of duty.
20. Call it quits
Meaning: Stop working or end
Example: They called it quits on the project.
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