telephone
Americannoun
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telephones
plural
verb (used with object)
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telephones,
present (3rd person singular)
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telephoned,
past participle, past
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telephoning
present participle
-
to speak to or summon (a person) by telephone.
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to send (a message) by telephone.
verb (used without object)
-
telephones,
present (3rd person singular)
-
telephoned,
past participle, past
-
telephoning
present participle
noun
-
-
Also called: telephone set. an electrical device for transmitting speech, consisting of a microphone and receiver mounted on a handset
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( as modifier )
a telephone receiver
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-
-
a worldwide system of communications using telephones. The microphone in one telephone converts sound waves into electrical signals that are transmitted along a telephone wire or by radio to one or more distant sets, the receivers of which reconvert the incoming signal into the original sound
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( as modifier )
a telephone exchange
a telephone call
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See telephone box
verb
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to call or talk to (a person) by telephone
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to transmit (a recorded message, radio or television programme, or other information) by telephone, using special transmitting and receiving equipment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
telephonesimple
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telephonessimple
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have telephonedperfect
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has telephonedperfect
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am telephoningprogressive
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are telephoningprogressive
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is telephoningprogressive
-
have been telephoningperfect progressive
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has been telephoningperfect progressive
Past
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telephonedsimple
-
had telephonedperfect
-
was telephoningprogressive
-
were telephoningprogressive
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had been telephoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of telephone
Explanation
A telephone is an electronic device that you use for conversations over great distances. Telephones used to be fixed to walls and connected by cables, but now most people have cellular telephones, known as cell phones or mobiles. A telephone takes sound waves, converts it into electronic signals, and then converts that back into sound waves — pretty neat. Early telephones frightened people because it seemed spooky that someone not in the room (or even the country) could speak to you, but nowadays distant communication seems perfectly normal. If your mother asks you to telephone her, she wants you to give her a call. The word comes from the Greek words for "afar" (tele-) and "voice"(phone).
Vocabulary lists containing telephone
Common Senses: Phon ("Sound")
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
See Examples For:
“We’ve known for weeks they were coming, they even said they knew where the police were located,” he said in a telephone interview from the airport as he was returning to Haiti from the U.S.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 26, 2026
He said he had informed his Ukrainian counterpart Volodymyr Zelensky in a telephone call of "the strengthening of our support with the delivery of interceptors and the continuation of our cooperation".
From Barron's ● Aug. 22, 2026
In addition to serving more than 5 million homes, they also provide telephone service to 1.5 million subscribers in the state.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 14, 2026
When you first step into South Hall, to your immediate right is “the bubble”—a barred enclosure fitted with chairs, a desk, a telephone, and a microwave.
From Slate ● Aug. 11, 2026
Telephone service, too, was more limited than ever, but at last the girl at the hospital switchboard reached the telephone operator in Hilversum with the news of Betsie’s death and my release.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
So far, the French platform has not monetised carpooling in India, where people pay each other directly, often using the popular digital UPI mobile telephones payment systems.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
Pakistan has so far walked the tightrope between Iran and the US, passing messages between the two sides, hosting foreign ministers from other concerned Muslim nations and hitting the diplomatic telephones.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
The 12-man company built structures for telephones and electrical equipment alongside train tracks.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Dec. 25, 2025
The U.S. government broke up AT&T in 1982 because a company owning phone lines and telephones was anticompetitive.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 19, 2025
Mrs. Cranston nagged Mr. Cranston until he had one of the new telephones installed under the front staircase, where it rang its head off.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
Sheinbaum, who is opposed to unilateral military action on Mexican soil, quickly telephoned Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
At some point in the ’70s or ’80s, Kauffman said, his brother telephoned him for a brief chat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024
According to testimony from a former agriculture official, Menendez telephoned one day to order him to stand down in his efforts to oppose the monopoly.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
"I just telephoned Ashley Judd, the first actress to come forward with allegations against Mr. Weinstein, and shared the news from the court," Kantor wrote in the update.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2024
In a moment of courage, I telephoned him and left a message.
From "Three Little Words: A Memoir" by Ashley Rhodes-Courter
In her book, Harris recounts the hours after Biden’s sudden withdrawal, when she began telephoning top Democrats around the country to lock in their support.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025
The Department for the Economy's careers service is also operating an online advice service or by telephoning 0300 200 7820.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
One of them, a tax attorney named Gordon, was coaxed onto stage for the purpose of publicly telephoning his wife.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 24, 2023
The brothers raced up to their high-rise office and tried telephoning her.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2023
Still, the office help at Lew Pants often quit without even telephoning Mr. Gonzalez.
From "A Confederacy of Dunces" by John Kennedy Toole
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
