To end a telephone call and break the circuit connection by returning the receiver to its cradle. In manual switchboard days, dropping the handset sent a signal to the operator's board, causing a physical indicator to drop or a light to turn off, telling the operator to pull the patch cords. The phrase persists in British and Commonwealth telecommunications to describe the physical or logical termination of a voice circuit.
Heard on the job
The subscriber rang off before I could trace the origin of the trunk call.
Also heard as
- hang up
- clear down