landline

American  

[land-lahyn] / ˈlændˌlaɪn /

noun

• landlines
  plural

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.

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• landlines
  plural

Etymology

Origin of landline

First recorded in 1860–65; land + line ¹

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

landline landlines

Local authorities said 116 telecommunications towers had been knocked out of service, with landline, mobile and internet connections down in some northern areas of the province.

From Barron's ● Jul. 18, 2026

This week, Steve Hilton, the GOP candidate for California governor, wrote a letter to FCC Chairman Brendan Carr, urging him to rescind the agency’s recent action allowing AT&T to end its copper landline service.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 10, 2026

Black said Ofcom had introduced "further safeguards to prevent this from happening again", including its "One Touch Switch" process launched in 2024, intended to make changing broadband or landline providers hassle-free.

From BBC ● Jul. 8, 2026

The problem began when we unbundled, canceling our landline, which was like pulling the last thread that kept our lives from unraveling.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 1, 2026

He would have no access to electricity or a landline for weeks.

From "Zeitoun" by Dave Eggers

Widow’s Bay is indeed a fusty place where everyone drives old cars, uses ancient computers and communicates on walkies and landlines since neither cell phones nor Wi-Fi connectivity works.

From Salon ● Jun. 18, 2026

Older people still have experience with landlines, when there was only one number per household.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 1, 2026

Gavin Burrows allegedly said in a witness statement in August 2021 that he hacked voicemails, tapped landlines and accessed financial and medical information for a journalist at the Mail on Sunday.

From BBC ● Mar. 23, 2026

Others still use landlines, which can function when the internet is shut off, but which are widely believed to be monitored by authorities.

From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 6, 2026

The tracking stations captured the signals with their sixty-four-foot receiving dishes, then relayed this data plus voice communications through a jumble of submarine cables, landlines, and radio waves to the computer center at Goddard.

From "Hidden Figures" by Margot Lee Shetterly