landline

[land-lahyn]

noun

1. a circuit of wire or cable connecting two ground locations.

2. a telecommunications line, service, or connection that uses wire running over land or underground to connect to a network.

   telegraph and telephone landlines.

3. Also called landline telephone. Also called landline phone. a telephone that is connected by wire to a network.

4. Citizens Band Radio Slang.,  a telephone.

Word History and Origins

Origin of landline¹

First recorded in 1860–65; land + line ¹

Example Sentences

It comes after thousands were left unable to make or receive calls earlier this week due to a technical issue which impacted both mobile and landline phones.

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Social media users have been posting about a loss of services of both EE and BT mobile and landline services.

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Dudley — who says her landline and neighborhood streetlights also have been out periodically due to copper wire theft — believes it is only a matter of time before the issue resurfaces for her mom.

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It allowed people to make computer-to-computer calls free, and then became the way users could make low cost calls to landlines and mobiles to people in other parts of the world.

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They said I might get a call from Windsor in England on a landline, and I was like 'sure!'.

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