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definitions

landline

[land-lahyn]

noun

a circuit of wire or cable connecting two ground locations.
a telecommunications line, service, or connection that uses wire running over land or underground to connect to a network: telegraph and telephone landlines.
Also called landline telephone, landline phone. a telephone that is connected by wire to a network.
Citizens Band Radio Slang. a telephone.

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Origin of landline

First recorded in 1860–65; land + line1
Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019
British Dictionary definitions for land line

land line

noun

a telecommunications wire or cable laid over land
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
Word Origin and History for land line

landline

n.

also land-line, by 1861, originally a telegraph wire run over land (as opposed to under sea); from land (n.) + line (n.). In modern use (by 1965), a telephone line which uses wire or some other material (distinguished from a radio or cellular line).

Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper