megaphone

[meg-uh-fohn]

SEE MORE SYNONYMS FOR megaphone ON THESAURUS.COM

noun

a cone-shaped device for magnifying or directing the voice, chiefly used in addressing a large audience out of doors or in calling to someone at a distance.Compare bullhorn.

verb (used with or without object), meg·a·phoned, meg·a·phon·ing.

to transmit or speak through or as if through a megaphone.

Origin of megaphone

An Americanism dating back to 1875–80; mega- + -phone

Related formsmeg·a·phon·ic

[meg-uh-fon-ik] /ˌmɛg əˈfɒn ɪk/, adjectivemeg·a·phon·i·cal·ly, adverb

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2019

Related Words for megaphone

megaphone, bullhorn, amplifier

Examples from the Web for megaphone

Contemporary Examples of megaphone

Gotta have the beret and megaphone if I want people to take me seriously!
Jon Stewart Talks ‘Rosewater’ and the ‘Chickensh-t’ Democrats’ Midterm Massacre
Marlow Stern
November 9, 2014
If we want a megaphone to the rest of the world, we must explicitly ask for it by changing that setting ourselves.
You Can’t Have Facebook’s Best Privacy Policy
Dennis Kneale
May 23, 2014
Turn that megaphone around and use feedback you receive on the crowdsourcing and social media platforms as consumer feedback.
How to Win at Crowdfunding
Bianca Goodloe
April 27, 2014
Boulden says the preachers yelled, “we hope you die from breast cancer” through a megaphone.
The Hipster Fred Phelps
Mary Emily O’Hara
December 8, 2013
Had the word “Jewboys” come from the megaphone of sheriff Bull Connor, that would have been hateful.
The Maslin Stain: A Writer Defends Himself Against the NYT Critic
William Stadiem
February 1, 2013

Historical Examples of megaphone

In this hush the megaphone was lifted slightly and dropped, making us all start.
The Shadow World
Hamlin Garland
Then he went to the corner of the office and picked up a megaphone.
In Apple-Blossom Time
Clara Louise Burnham
It was the voice of Mr. Isidore screeching upon him through the megaphone.
Brother Copas
Sir Arthur Thomas Quiller-Couch
"Jack Kilmeny will ride Teddy Roosevelt," blared the megaphone man.
The Highgrader
William MacLeod Raine
We need some sort of megaphone to enlarge the spirit-voices.
The Tyranny of the Dark
Hamlin Garland

British Dictionary definitions for megaphone

megaphone

noun

a funnel-shaped instrument used to amplify the voiceSee also loud-hailer

Derived Formsmegaphonic (ˌmɛɡəˈfɒnɪk), adjectivemegaphonically, adverb

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 megaphone

1878, coined (perhaps by Thomas Edison, who invented it) from Greek megas "great" (see mega-) + phone "voice" (see fame (n.)). Related: Megaphonic. In Greek, megalophonia meant "grandiloquence," megalophonos "loud-voiced."