area code

American  

noun

1. a three-digit code that identifies one of the telephone areas into which the U.S. and certain other countries are divided and that precedes the local telephone number when dialing a call between areas.

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area code British  

noun

1. a number prefixed to an individual telephone number: used in making long-distance calls

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Etymology

Origin of area code

First recorded in 1960–65

Example Sentences

It had a phone number with an area code I recognized.

From Los Angeles Times

Elected officials urged residents to join patrols, such as Defend the 612, a group named for a local area code.

From The Wall Street Journal

There was a phone number with a Virginia area code that she could call—but only in the case of dire emergency.

From Literature

Other area codes must settle for a tastefully decorated ranch far beyond New York’s city limits, like the one Nathan Lane’s Bunny Schneiderman shares with his mother in Palm Springs on “Mid-Century Modern.”

From Salon

Nine of the 16 losses came in Toronto and the surrounding "905" - places that all share the same area code.

From BBC