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.

Origin of landline

First recorded in 1860–65; land + line¹

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018

Examples from the Web for landline

Contemporary Examples of landline

During one late-evening delivery, when he saw the office was mostly empty, he asked if he could use the landline.
Bergdahl’s Dad: Drone Killed Captor’s Kid
Michael Ames
June 6, 2014
The move is an acknowledgment that the landline business is largely dead and the mobile phone has saturated the world.
Wall Street Plays Defense
Daniel Gross
September 3, 2013
Meanwhile, voice—i.e., landline telephone service—also seems to have peaked.
Why Time Warner Cable Can’t Cave to CBS’s Demands
Daniel Gross
August 10, 2013
I cannot believe Annabelle would refuse an iPhone and prefer a landline.
Do I Have to Read Jackie Collins?
William Boot
February 27, 2010

Word Origin and History for 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