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

Using a burner phone and an alias we joined several we were tipped off about.

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Your brother tries to find the buyer, but it turns out they used a burner phone.

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The night before the heist worth up to $100 million, he witnessed a traffic collision and gave a police officer the number of his burner phone, according to two people involved with the case.

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The Premier League champions said 500 people were denied entry to Anfield for trying to gain access with a burner phone - used by touts to avoid tickets being traced - in the last 12 months.

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Clark said Combs got back in the car and realized she had called Ventura’s burner phone.

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