burner phone

[ bur-ner fohn ]

noun

, Informal.

1. a disposable cell phone with prepaid service, often used with the intent to temporarily obscure the true identity or contact information of the user: I always give out the number from my burner phone when I’m going on a blind date.

   Members of the cartel used burner phones to evade federal surveillance.

   I always give out the number from my burner phone when I’m going on a blind date.

Word History and Origins

Origin of burner phone¹

2000–05; burn ¹( def ) (perhaps in the slang sense “to disclose the identity of”) + -er ¹( def ) + phone ¹( def )

Example Sentences

Think of a burner email the way you might a burner phone used to evade police surveillance.

From Digiday

Many digital activists have burner phones and backup computers, and work away from their families to protect them.

From MIT Technology Review

To further cover their traces, the hackers were careful to use computers and networks to communicate with the back door at a given target only once—the equivalent of using a burner phone for an illicit conversation.

From MIT Technology Review