phone up
(redirected from phones us up)phone up
1. To connect (to someone or some place) by phone. A number of our listeners have been phoning up to tell us their opinions on this matter. A neighbor phoned up earlier to tell us that there was a bear in our back yard.
2. To call someone or some organization on the phone. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "phone" and "up." Here's my number—phone me up sometime, and we can go see a movie or something. I've been phoning up the radio station every single day for a chance to be on the air with my favorite DJ.
3. To dial a particular number on the phone. In this usage, a noun or pronoun can be used between "phone" and "up." I had her number written down in my notebook from years ago, so I took a chance and phoned it up. I've always wondered if people actually phone up the numbers scratched into the walls of bathroom stalls.
Farlex Dictionary of Idioms. © 2024 Farlex, Inc, all rights reserved.
phone someone up
to call someone on the telephone. I don't know what he will do. I will phone him up and ask him. Phone up your brother and ask his advice.
McGraw-Hill Dictionary of American Idioms and Phrasal Verbs. © 2002 by The McGraw-Hill Companies, Inc.
phone up
v.
To telephone someone or something: I didn't understand the contract, so I phoned up my lawyer for help. She told her client that she would phone him up after lunch to review what they had discussed.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of Phrasal Verbs. Copyright © 2005 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. All rights reserved.