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
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Lesson 2
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Florida's B.E.S.T. Roots: micro
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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:
Just as important as Kiffin’s ability to light up scoreboards was his knack for using any microphone within earshot to stir up attention.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 5, 2026
Upon retiring in 1992, Smith Jr. moved behind a microphone, teaming with Scott Kaplan on a popular radio show on the Mighty 1090, a station that went off the air in 2019.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 30, 2026
"It's really important - that when somebody else tries to grab the microphone and diminish what you're doing - you grab it back."
From BBC ● Jul. 25, 2026
Known as oto-acoustic emissions, these sounds can be detected by placing a sensitive microphone inside the ear canal.
From Science Daily ● Jul. 19, 2026
Because the drone lizard didn’t just carry a miniature microphone.
From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix
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
The appeal of these models is hands-free cameras and built-in speakers and microphones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
“Shaping Sounds” offers considerable technical information about microphones, recording equipment and studio layout—a valuable document from the era of analog recording.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 26, 2026
How will he react when 185 million microphones are pointed at him?
From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 24, 2026
“Good evening,” Mr. Clarkson said, leaning in to one of the microphones on the table.
From "Here to Stay" by Sara Farizan
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.
