This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
busy signal
Save This Word!
This shows grade level based on the word's complexity.
noun
Telephony. a regular succession of buzzing tones transmitted to a caller to indicate that the circuit serving the number is blocked or in use, rapid repetition indicating that the network is blocked and normal repetition that the telephone being called is in use.
QUIZ
CAN YOU ANSWER THESE COMMON GRAMMAR DEBATES?
There are grammar debates that never die; and the ones highlighted in the questions in this quiz are sure to rile everyone up once again. Do you know how to answer the questions that cause some of the greatest grammar debates?
Question 1 of 7
Which sentence is correct?
Origin of busy signal
First recorded in 1890–95
Words nearby busy signal
busy as a beaver, busy bee, busybody, busy Lizzie, busyness, busy signal, busywork, but, butabarbital sodium, butadiene, but and ben
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
How to use busy signal in a sentence
It has closed 67 offices around the country since 2010 and shrunk its call center staff, resulting in more busy signals, longer wait times and fewer calls answered according to a report by the SSA Inspector General in May 2020.
How COVID-19 Long Haulers Could Change the U.S. Disability Benefits System|Abigail Abrams|July 20, 2021|TimeHe got a busy signal from the cops, but Gloria pulled up next to him within minutes.
The sound I got wasn't even a busy signal -- it was like a whimper of pain from the phone system.
Little Brother|Cory Doctorow
British Dictionary definitions for busy signal
busy signal
noun
US and Canadian a repeated single note heard on a telephone when the number called is already in useAlso called (especially in Britain): engaged tone
Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 2012 Digital Edition
© William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012