handset

American  

[hand-set, hand-set, -set] / ˈhændˌsɛt, ˈhændˈsɛt, -ˌsɛt /

noun

handsets plural

1. Also called French telephone.  a telephone having a mouthpiece and earpiece mounted at opposite ends of a handle.

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verb (used with object)

handset, handsetting

1. to set (type) by hand.

adjective

1. (of type) set by hand.

2. (of a publication) printed directly from type set by hand.

handset British  

/ ˈhændˌsɛt /

noun

1. a telephone mouthpiece and earpiece mounted so that they can be held simultaneously to mouth and ear

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• handsets
  plural

Etymology

Origin of handset

First recorded in 1915–20; hand + set

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

handset handsets handsetting

But what was once a small memorial is now just the base of an old rotary phone without the handset.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026

The company has developed a prototype handset it recently showed to some investors, The Wall Street Journal reported.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026

But unbeknownst to him, his handset was still connected to the Bluetooth speaker.

From BBC ● May 6, 2026

However, sales in the company’s handset segment fell 13%.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Apr. 29, 2026

Corporal Reynolds whips around, startled by the loud clatter of the handset against the phone’s base.

From "Internment" by Samira Ahmed

Founded as a ground wood pulp mill on the banks of Finland’s Nokianvirta River in 1865, the company evolved through rubber and cables before it became known for mobile handsets.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 7, 2026

Iridium currently operates a 66-satellite constellation in low-Earth orbit, using it to connect handsets and other devices.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 29, 2026

Qualcomm raised its fiscal 2029 target for nonhandset revenue to $40 billion, up from a prior target of $22 billion, and said handsets would account for only about a third of chip revenue by then.

From MarketWatch ● Jun. 25, 2026

The police force revealed on Thursday that it had started sharing data with Apple to build a "global picture" of what happens to stolen handsets, including whether they are being reconnected to a network.

From BBC ● Jun. 11, 2026

Ten minutes later, Kyle, Akimi, and Sierra had stripped the sproingy wires off a couple of telephone handsets.

From "Escape from Mr. Lemoncello's Library" by Chris Grabenstein

Despite the lead and fumes, Linotypes resulted in far safer and faster conditions than handsetting, and hot-lead composition quickly become the rule for books and periodicals.

From Economist ● Mar. 30, 2018

With hobbies running from gardening to handsetting type, Boyd shares some of Jefferson's own tastes.

From Time Magazine Archive