text message

American  

noun

1. an electronic message sent over a cellular network from one cell phone to another by typing words, often in shortened form, as “l8t” for “late,” on the phone's numeric or QWERTY keypad.

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text message British  

noun

1. a written message sent by means of a mobile phone

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Etymology

Origin of text message

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

After his journey retracing his life off-grid, he decided to send his mother a text message.

From BBC • May 13, 2026

“I’m so happy for them and proud of how far they’ve come!!!” she said in a text message, referring to Blanck and his daughter, Danika Dallas.

From Los Angeles Times • May 12, 2026

“Those kids were more interested in studying than sports, as you can imagine,” he said in a text message.

From Los Angeles Times • May 3, 2026

“Not going to burn capital on Casey,” a senior White House legislative-affairs staffer in October told a Senate staffer working to schedule her confirmation hearing, in a text message reviewed by The Wall Street Journal.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 1, 2026

Maybe she’d told her parents about how upset she was, and about how Max had sent her a worried text message.

From "The School for Whatnots" by Margaret Peterson Haddix