housephone

American  

[hous-fohn] / ˈhaʊsˌfoʊn /

noun

1. a telephone, used for making calls within a hotel or apartment house, that does not have a direct line to an exchange and whose calls are routed through the building's switchboard.

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Etymology

Origin of housephone

house + phone ¹

Example Sentences

In the middle of it, the doorman called up on the housephone and asked if anybody was dancing up there.

From "Franny and Zooey" by J. D. Salinger