telephone
(countable, telephony) A telecommunication device which converts data or sounds (usually speech) into electrical signals which are then transmitted to enable two or more people to communicate with eac
Etymology timeline
Born ~1876 · 1 year of recorded useSeen in the wild
[2/2] saying that Iran's public stance is always inconsistent with its actual position of holding closed-door talks and telephone communications with US negotiators and decision-makers.
3) 90 minutes - the length of the telephone call between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, President Donald Trump, this week.
Telephone Canyon, 5/5/2026, 10:18:43 AM
I sat here staring at the same old wall Came back to life just when I got your call I wished I could climb Right through the telephone line And give you what you want So you will still be mine hey hey
Susan Sontag hated answering the phone. "barbaric insult to privacy represented by the telephone"
Definitions
(countable, telephony) A telecommunication device which converts data or sounds (usually speech) into electrical signals which are then transmitted to enable two or more people to communicate with each other over a distance; now usually a device having a dial or keypad with numerals for entering a number, etc., to connect with a person, and means (such as a sound or vibration) for alerting one to an incoming call or transmission; also, the handset or receiver of such a device.
The telephones so constructed were placed in different rooms. Upon singing into the telephone, the tones of the voice were reproduced by the instrument in the distant room. When two persons sang simultaneously into the instrument, two no…
“[2/2] saying that Iran's public stance is always inconsistent with its actual position of holding closed-door talks and telephone communications with US negotiators and decision-makers.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“3) 90 minutes - the length of the telephone call between President Vladimir Putin and his US counterpart, President Donald Trump, this week.”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Telephone Canyon, 5/5/2026, 10:18:43 AM”
— Bluesky· May 2026“I sat here staring at the same old wall Came back to life just when I got your call I wished I could climb Right through the telephone line And give you what you want So you will still be mine hey hey”
— Bluesky· May 2026“Susan Sontag hated answering the phone. "barbaric insult to privacy represented by the telephone"”
— Bluesky· May 2026
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(intransitive) To (attempt to) contact someone using a telephone; to make a telephone call.
The only chance we had was to telephone to the manager of the hotel in Calgary to send two bottles of Scotch without fail by the next train leaving Calgary for the west.
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(countable, figurative) A means of communicating information from one person to another or others.
And since the spring of 1995, no game of telephone has ended without some Simpsons-loving smart-ass dropping "purple monkey dishwasher" into the chain.
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Semantically related
- 64%
(US, telephony, dated) A telephone with a handset.
- 63%
(rare, mostly, _, obsolete) A telephone receiver or handset.
- 62%
(mainly, North America, New Zealand, Philippines) A portable, wireless telephone, which changes antenna connections seamlessly during travel from one radio reception cell to another without losing the party-to-party call connection.