intercom
Americannoun
-
a communication system within a building, ship, airplane, local area, etc., with a loudspeaker or receiver for listening and a microphone for speaking at each of two or more points.
-
a microphone or receiver of such a communication system.
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of intercom
First recorded in 1935–40; by shortening
Explanation
An intercom is a device that makes it possible for people to communicate between different rooms or areas of a building. Airplanes use intercoms so the pilot can tell passengers, "Fasten your seat belts!" Many schools have an intercom system, so that students, teachers, and administrators can broadcast announcements to every classroom. Some intercoms operate as one-way communication, while others are two-way intercoms: a friend's apartment building might have an intercom you can speak into, telling her you've arrived, and she can respond, telling you she's buzzing you in. Intercom, dating from 1940, is a shortened form of intercommunication.
Vocabulary lists containing intercom
The Skin I'm In
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Liar & Spy
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The Corruption of Hollis Brown
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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.
See Examples For:
Schempp, the Supreme Court ruled 8-1 against daily morning Bible readings over the intercom, calling that a religious exercise.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jun. 21, 2026
Each room is equipped with an intercom to contact guards if needed.
From Barron's ● Mar. 17, 2026
The red brick building that houses the apartment is also home to 26 other units and offers several high-end communal amenities, including an elevator, laundry room, and video intercom entry.
From MarketWatch ● Feb. 4, 2026
A recent one consisted of a close-up of one of those vents above your airplane seat that regulates air circulation while the plane’s captain welcomes the viewer to “ICE Air” over the intercom.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 8, 2025
The intercom came on and a female voice said, “Inspector Garland, the lab report on Mr. Polokov’s corpse is ready.”
From "Do Androids Dream of Electric Sheep?" by Philip K. Dick
Rob Jackson, a passenger on the flight, told the New York Times it had been a normal journey until the descent process began and the fight attendants' intercoms repeatedly started going off.
From BBC ● Nov. 28, 2024
The intercoms were inoperable, the crew reduced to using megaphones to direct passengers.
From Seattle Times ● Jan. 12, 2024
Another was instituting efficiencies at Buckingham Palace, originally bought by his and Elizabeth’s ancestor George III. Philip had intercoms installed, for example, to obviate the need for messengers.
From New York Times ● Apr. 9, 2021
For the first few days, we had to speak with a glass door between us, using intercoms, like a bad prison movie.
From Washington Post ● Dec. 11, 2020
Back when they had been installed in the 1940s—over thirty years after the house itself had been built in 1909—the intercoms had probably all worked.
From "Middlesex: A Novel" by Jeffrey Eugenides
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
