beeper

[bee-per]

noun

1. a device that connects into a telephone circuit and transmits a periodic signal as an indication that the conversation over the circuit is being recorded.

2. a similar device attached to a free-ranging animal as an aid to learning its habits; biotelemeter.

3. Also called pager. a pocket-size electronic device whose signal notifies a person of an important message, sometimes displaying the telephone number to be called.

Word History and Origins

Origin of beeper¹

First recorded in 1945–50; beep + -er ¹

Example Sentences

Like, at some point, I wore a beeper that wasn’t even working just because it was part of my look.

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After Hasan weighed in, Girdusky said, “I hope your beeper doesn’t go off” — a reference to the use of mobile communications devices to kill members of Hezbollah in Lebanon on Sept. 17.

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“I keep a beeper with me at all times,” Brown said the day Herzog resigned.

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He kept a photo of tech billionaire Bill Gates’ mansion in his wallet and hustled to make money by selling golf balls he retrieved from a nearby course and pagers and beepers at marked-up prices.

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In college, I wrote a term paper exploring their allure and even interviewed a man who charged a dollar a month to alert subscribers via beeper whenever one started.

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