microphone

[ mahy-kruh-fohn ]

/ ˈmaɪ krəˌfoʊn /

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noun

an instrument capable of transforming sound waves into changes in electric currents or voltage, used in recording or transmitting sound.

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Origin of microphone

1875–80; micro-, in sense “enlarging” (extracted from microscope) + -phone

Words nearby microphone

micropathology, micropayment, microphage, microphagous, microphanerophyte, microphone, microphonic, microphonism, microphotograph, microphotometer, microphyll

Dictionary.com Unabridged Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023

How to use microphone in a sentence

You can always check your Zoom setup by joining a test meeting, in which the service will play a sound to check your speakers and record a short audio clip before playing it back to test your microphone.
Google’s new Green Room feature gets you camera-ready before video meetings|Stan Horaczek|February 8, 2021|Popular-Science
We saw it with the right-to-vote movement and racial -equality, so many athletes took the microphone and promoted a cause they believe in.
Kansas City Chiefs Lineman Laurent Duvernay-Tardif Stayed On The COVID-19 Front Lines. Now He's Missing The Super Bowl.|Sean Gregory|February 4, 2021|Time
A high-sensitivity microphone picks up even the slightest sound and can record and analyze noise to determine sleep quality.
Best baby monitor: How to find the right one for your family|PopSci Commerce Team|January 29, 2021|Popular-Science
He told me I should have my microphone turned off on air, so that didn’t go down so well.
The BBC’s Katty Kay Shuts Down Men Who ‘Tell Me to Shut Up’|Eugene Robinson|January 23, 2021|Ozy

One stepped to the microphone to ask a question about police officers’ mental and physical health.
From a median on Pennsylvania Avenue, D.C. Mayor Muriel Bowser says she’ll welcome visitors soon — but not now|Julie Zauzmer|January 19, 2021|Washington Post
She found a way to make little kitten steps to the microphone in unison with the music.
Is Bigger Better for St. Vincent?|David Yaffe|December 4, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Both get electronics, but the proffered image for boys is a microphone; for girls, a radio.
Sexism Begins in the Toy Aisle|Nancy Kaffer|November 29, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Yeah, having a microphone and so many people under your control always frightened me.
George Clinton on Industry ‘Mobsters’ and How Nobody Wants to Listen to a Crackhead|Curtis Stephen|November 19, 2014|DAILY BEAST
Barrett had chanced to place a paternal hand on her head as he passed the microphone to the student next to her.
11 Children Shot in Milwaukee, One in Her Grandpa's Lap|Michael Daly|November 12, 2014|DAILY BEAST
After about one minute of rambling, a woman runs up on stage and directs someone to turn his microphone off.
White Supremacist Runs For Senate in Kentucky|Olivia Nuzzi|September 21, 2014|DAILY BEAST
The chief engineer connected up, then hung the microphone between the two front seats.
The Flaming Mountain|Harold Leland Goodwin
The engineer tapped on the microphone, and the tap, greatly amplified, reverberated across the airstrip.
The Flaming Mountain|Harold Leland Goodwin
He handed the governor the microphone and swung into position for a run over the troops on the road.
The Flaming Mountain|Harold Leland Goodwin
His earlier self, who had blithely toured Valier trailing the microphone wires without any real premonition of trouble.
Tight Squeeze|Dean Charles Ing
The discovery of the microphone by Professor Hughes has enabled us to understand the reason of this failure.
Heroes of the Telegraph|J. Munro

British Dictionary definitions for microphone

microphone

/ (ˈmaɪkrəˌfəʊn) /

noun

a device used in sound-reproduction systems for converting sound into electrical energy, usually by means of a ribbon or diaphragm set into motion by the sound waves. The vibrations are converted into the equivalent audio-frequency electric currentsInformal name: mike See also carbon microphone Compare loudspeaker

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

microphone

Origin of microphone

Words nearby microphone

Words related to microphone

How to use microphone in a sentence

British Dictionary definitions for microphone