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Synonyms

headphones

British  
/ ˈhɛdˌfəʊnz /

plural noun

  1. Informal name: cans.  an electrical device consisting of two earphones held in position by a flexible metallic strap passing over the head

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

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.

"Decide, decide, decide, decide / Do I? Do I? Do I? Do I?" he screams, his voice spinning around your headphones like intrusive thoughts.

From BBC • Apr. 21, 2026

“No matter how I’m feeling, I just get up there, I put my headphones on and I’m ready to rock,” Landry said.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 21, 2026

Apple’s iPod ads in the early 2000s that featured dark silhouettes with contrasting white headphones were also big hits.

From Barron's • Apr. 10, 2026

The beaches are empty, and he can concentrate on the beeping in his bulbous yellow headphones, which grows louder as the coil gets closer to metal.

From The Wall Street Journal • Mar. 24, 2026

How much time do you spend listening to music through headphones?

From "Music and the Child" by Natalie Sarrazin

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.