Editing On- and off-hook (section)

{{Short description|A telephone respectively off- and on-line}}
{{Use American English|date=September 2024}}

In [[telephony]], '''on-hook''' and '''off-hook''' are two states of a communication circuit. On subscriber telephones the states are produced by placing the handset onto or off the hookswitch. Placing the circuit into the off-hook state is also called ''seizing the line''. ''Off-hook'' originally referred to the condition that prevailed when telephones had a separate earpiece (''receiver''), which hung from its [[switchhook]] until the user initiated a telephone call by removing it. When off hook the weight of the receiver no longer depresses the spring-loaded switchhook, thereby connecting the instrument to the [[telephone line]].