megaphone
Americannoun
verb (used with or without object)
noun
Other Word Forms
Etymology
Origin of megaphone
Compare meaning
How does megaphone compare to similar and commonly confused words? Explore the most common comparisons:
Explanation
A megaphone is a cone-shaped amplifier you can use to make your voice louder. You can bring a megaphone to a football game, but leave it at home if you are headed to a dinner party. Megaphones are useful, portable devices for someone who's guiding a group of protesters, for a movie director who's working with a lot of actors on a large set, or for cheerleaders who want their voices to carry over the roar of a crowd of football fans. Thomas Edison invented the megaphone, and he probably named it too: it combines the Greek megas, "great," with phone, "voice."
Vocabulary lists containing megaphone
Ghost
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The Boys in the Boat
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Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
When he arrived at around 8:30 a.m., a police officer was on a megaphone announcing that the shop wouldn’t be opening, that no watches would be sold, and requesting that the crowd disperse.
From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026
“Stay out of the street. You will not block traffic today,” an officer said through a megaphone.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 11, 2026
"Any form of sleep or rest throughout the night was impossible due to festival noise / loud techno singing / megaphone announcements," explained a post on the Morrissey Central website.
From BBC • Mar. 13, 2026
Behind a barricade and large banner saying "Milan Fashion Week Go Fur-Free", activists with a megaphone yelled "Shame on you for what you do!" as Armani guests left the show.
From Barron's • Mar. 1, 2026
The person with the megaphone counts down to the start.
From "Keeping Pace" by Laurie Morrison
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
