microphone
Americannoun
-
microphones
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of microphone
1875–80; micro-, in sense “enlarging” (extracted from microscope ) + -phone
Explanation
A microphone is an electric device that amplifies the sound of a voice or instrument. If you're going to stand up in front of a large crowd and want to be heard, you better use a microphone. Microphones require electricity and amplifiers to work — what they do is take a sound and convert it into an electrical signal. That signal can then be amplified and sent to a speaker or recorded. Performers can sing softly into a microphone and still be heard clearly by an audience member at the very back of a huge concert hall. The popularity of radio and film inspired this meaning of microphone — originally, the word meant "ear trumpet for the hard-of-hearing."
Vocabulary lists containing microphone
List 6
Looking to grow your vocabulary? Check out this interactive, curated word list from our team of English language specialists at Vocabulary.com – one of over 17,000 lists we've built to help learners worldwide!
Lesson 2
Interested in learning more words like this one? Our team at Vocabulary.com has got you covered! You can review flashcards, quiz yourself, practice spelling, and more – and it's all completely free to use!
Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: micro
Want to remember this word for good? Start your learning journey today with our library of interactive, themed word lists built by the experts at Vocabulary.com – we'll help you make the most of your study time!
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:
OpenAI engineer and a hidden toilet paper-wrapped microphone.
From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026
Burns, a retired police officer, looked up from his microphone and hissed back: “Tee-hee-hee, by a bunch of idiots!”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 1, 2026
When a clown’s only trick is shouting into a live microphone, the absolute worst thing that can happen is for the cameras to simply turn off.
From Salon ● Sep. 27, 2026
Hanny Junee was getting ready to sing Coldplay's hit Viva la Vida to a small audience in Trafalgar Square when the star joined him by the microphone and started singing along.
From BBC ● Sep. 21, 2026
At the front of the crowd, a microphone was on a stand at the back of the building.
From "Legendary Frybread Drive-In" by Cynthia Leitich Smith
As they continued into their first set of songs, it became apparent that the volume on their microphones was a bit low, leaving lyrics drowned in the rest of the mix.
From Los Angeles Times ● Aug. 24, 2026
It contains cameras and microphones that vacuum up sensitive data.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 6, 2026
He and fellow pundits Joe Hart and Micah Richards swapped their microphones for oars and took to the Hudson River in New York.
From BBC ● Jul. 18, 2026
Journalists crowd together in the hope of hearing from him, microphones are thrust into the air and camera operators stretch above the crowd for the briefest glimpse of the game's biggest star.
From BBC ● Jul. 4, 2026
The board members began hurriedly whispering among themselves, their hands cupped over their microphones.
From "The Landry News" by Andrew Clements
Random Word
Spin the wheel and learn a new word!
Get a wordDefinitions 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.
