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• radio
  radio

  noun

  wireless telegraphy or telephony.
• radio-
  radio-

  a combining form with the meanings “dealing with radiant energy” (radiometer ), “employing or dealing with radio waves” (radioacoustics; radiolocation; radiotelephone ), “emitting rays as a result of the breakup of atomic nuclei” (radioactive; radiocarbon ), “characterized by, employing or dealing with such rays” (radiography; radiopaque; radiotherapy ).

radio

¹ American  

[ray-dee-oh] / ˈreɪ diˌoʊ /

noun

• radios
  plural

1. wireless telegraphy or telephony.

   speeches broadcast by radio.

2. an apparatus for receiving or transmitting radio broadcasts.

3. a message transmitted by radio.

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adjective

1. pertaining to, used in, or sent by radio.

2. pertaining to or employing radiations, as of electrical energy.

verb (used with object)

• radios,
  present (3rd person singular)
• radioed,
  past participle,  past
• radioing
  present participle

1. to transmit (a message, music, etc.) by radio.

2. to send a message to (a person) by radio.

verb (used without object)

• radios,
  present (3rd person singular)
• radioed,
  past participle,  past
• radioing
  present participle

1. to transmit a message, music, etc., by radio.

radio- ² American  

1. a combining form with the meanings “dealing with radiant energy” (radiometer ), “employing or dealing with radio waves” (radioacoustics; radiolocation; radiotelephone ), “emitting rays as a result of the breakup of atomic nuclei” (radioactive; radiocarbon ), “characterized by, employing or dealing with such rays” (radiography; radiopaque; radiotherapy ).

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radio ¹ British  

/ ˈreɪdɪəʊ /

noun

1. the use of electromagnetic waves, lying in the radio-frequency range, for broadcasting, two-way communications, etc

2. Also called (esp Brit): wireless. an electronic device designed to receive, demodulate, and amplify radio signals from sound broadcasting stations, etc

3. a similar device permitting both transmission and reception of radio signals for two-way communications

4. the broadcasting, content, etc, of sound radio programmes

   he thinks radio is poor these days

5. 1. the occupation or profession concerned with any aspect of the broadcasting of sound radio programmes

      he's in radio

   2. (modifier) relating to, produced for, or transmitted by sound radio

      radio drama

6. short for radiotelegraph radiotelegraphy radiotelephone

7. (modifier)

   1. of, relating to, employed in, or sent by radio signals

      a radio station

   2. of, concerned with, using, or operated by radio frequencies

      radio spectrum

8. (modifier) (of a motor vehicle) equipped with a radio for communication

   radio car

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verb

1. to transmit (a message) to (a person, radio station, etc) by means of radio waves

radio- ² British  

combining form

1. denoting radio, broadcasting, or radio frequency

   radiogram

2. indicating radioactivity or radiation

   radiochemistry

   radiolucent

3. indicating a radioactive isotope or substance

   radioactinium

   radiothorium

   radioelement

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radio Scientific  

/ rā′dē-ō /

1. The equipment used to generate, alter, transmit, and receive radio waves so that they carry information.

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1. Relating to or involving the emission of radio waves.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preradio
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• radios
  plural

Participles

• radioing
  present
• radioed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• radio
  simple
• radios
  simple
• have radioed
  perfect
• has radioed
  perfect
• am radioing
  progressive
• are radioing
  progressive
• is radioing
  progressive
• have been radioing
  perfect progressive
• has been radioing
  perfect progressive

Past

• radioed
  simple
• had radioed
  perfect
• was radioing
  progressive
• were radioing
  progressive
• had been radioing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will radio
  simple
• will have radioed
  perfect
• will be radioing
  progressive
• will have been radioing
  perfect progressive

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Etymology

Origin of radio¹

1910–15; shortening of radiotelegraph or radiotelegraphy

Origin of radio-²

< French, combining form representing Latin radius beam, ray, radius

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Explanation

Radio is a way of transmitting sound using electromagnetic waves called radio waves. Nowadays, people usually only listen to the radio as they drive, but — before television — radio provided prime-time entertainment. When you turn on your car radio, you probably take for granted the many choices of music and talk stations you can choose from. The radio's electronic components do the amazing job of catching fast-moving radio waves in the air and translating them into sounds you can hear. Radios were originally called wireless because they transmit energy using waves instead of wires. The Latin root of radio is radius, "beam."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radio radio- radios radioed radioing

I was a kid driving a tractor, listening to a transistor radio hanging from my umbrella, and I said, “That’s the guy I want to write songs for.”

From Los Angeles Times ● Nov. 2, 2026

Planadas Mayor Juan Camilo Hueje told a local radio station that multiple people with injuries were taken to a local school for treatment.

From Barron's ● Nov. 2, 2026

By this time, Full Cycle had a show on commercial radio station Galaxy Radio - something Krust said became a really "pivotal moment" for the collective.

From BBC ● Oct. 31, 2026

The Americans are lodged in a resort hotel in the Carpathian mountain foothills, complete with valets, cooks, a radio and spending money.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 30, 2026

“Earthquake … shakin’,” Gerry reported over his ham radio at 8:32 a.m.

From "Mountain of Fire" by Rebecca E. F. Barone

Surgery cures most breast cancer - but if some disease remains, chemo-, radio- and endocrine therapy can reduce the long-term risk of dying.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2023

The cooling water picks up radio- nuclides, many of which are then captured by a specially developed filtering process.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 23, 2023

This 263-dish radio- and millimeter-wave interferometer will observe star-forming regions, active black holes and light associated with exploding stars with 10 times the sensitivity and resolution of the VLA.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 16, 2021

Crestview, a New York-based private-equity firm, created a strategic partnership with Cumulus in April to invest in radio- broadcasting companies.

From BusinessWeek ● Mar. 10, 2011

All these consequences of radiation have been duplicated in laboratory studies by a large group of chemicals known as radio- mimetic or radiation-imitating.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

The soldiers carried Wi-Fi-capable radios that linked together to form a mobile network, converting their voices into digital signals so they could communicate through headsets much like on a Zoom call.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 3, 2026

Only shortwave radios worked, and the mayor of Los Angeles, Frank Shaw, spoke to the nation thanks to a relay via a wireless station way up in Point Reyes.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 17, 2026

"We have 137 radios in circulation, if there is an incident unfolding it can be reported in real time and hopefully we can avoid any crime happening," she said.

From BBC ● Sep. 16, 2026

But over the past couple of years, every other person seems to have ditched their headphones and is brandishing their phones like radios set to a nightmare station.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

The new Yak-1s all came with radios, but only the planes for the squadron commanders had transmitting radios that would let one person talk to others in flight.

From "A Thousand Sisters" by Elizabeth Wein

He had no idea until one of the other choppers radioed him to tell him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Early next morning, a drone was sent up and soon after, the operator radioed them.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

“We just lost our right engine and would like to declare an emergency,” a Coast Guard pilot radioed controllers on the ground, according to audio from the incident.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 2, 2026

“You are all set to go,” a U.S. military officer radioed as the ship glided through the Strait of Hormuz on Monday and swung around the peninsula at the northern end of Oman.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 8, 2026

Rob Hall, Mike Groom, and Yasuko Namba reached the summit around this time, too, and Hall radioed Helen Wilton at Base Camp to give her the good news.

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

About 15 minutes after the collision, the controller is still on duty, radioing to a Frontier pilot lined up for the same runway.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

Moments after the capsule reached orbit, a SpaceX mission control manager was heard jokingly radioing to the crew: "If you enjoyed your ride, please don't forget to give us five stars."

From Reuters ● Mar. 2, 2023

I call on the way and, like the pilot of a stricken plane radioing ahead with an order to foam the runway, I request that they get some drum hardware bags ready for me.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2022

Bowman hit the wall early at Texas Motor Speedway but finished Sunday’s race despite radioing his Hendrick Motorsports crew: “I can’t drive the rest of the day.”

From Seattle Times ● Sep. 30, 2022

The only thing happening was a lot of radioing between mission control and the astronauts.

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia

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Related Words

• transmission
• wireless

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