cellphone

British

/ ˈsɛlˌfəʊn /

noun

In full: cellular telephone. a portable telephone operated by cellular radio

"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

Example Sentences

Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.

It’s Ann Patchett—whom a Slack channel full of conference organizers are looking for, because as it turns out, the novelist loves her privacy so much, she doesn’t own a cellphone.

From Slate • May 8, 2026

According to prosecutors, Allen spent his last minutes checking websites that covered Trump's whereabouts, arming himself, and posing for a selfie taken with a cellphone in the mirror of his room.

From Barron's • Apr. 29, 2026

Some tried to overcome the poor cellphone service to call loved ones.

From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 26, 2026

Guests struggled with spotty cellphone service in the brutalist-style hotel’s basement ballroom while trying to call loved ones to let them know they were safe.

From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026

Now, about one of every two Americans uses a cellphone; in 2004, there were 176 million subscribers, almost eight times the number a decade earlier, according to the market research firm IDC.

From "Class Matters" by The New York Times

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023