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

I picked up my phone and called Grandma’s landline—only for there to be no answer.

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In a statement from August 2021, Mr Burrows allegedly claimed to have hacked voicemails, tapped landlines, and accessed financial and medical information at the request of a journalist at the Mail On Sunday.

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Cell phone service was down, and landlines were nonexistent.

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The decline reflected a continued trend of customers moving away from landlines and desk phones.

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She also said it was before mobile phones so she gave the photographer her mother's landline to contact her on.

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