microphone
[mahy-kruh-fohn]
- 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
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2018
Examples from the Web for microphone
Contemporary Examples
She found a way to make little kitten steps to the microphone in unison with the music.
Both get electronics, but the proffered image for boys is a microphone; for girls, a radio.
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 CrackheadCurtis Stephen
November 19, 2014
Barrett had chanced to place a paternal hand on her head as he passed the microphone to the student next to her.
After about one minute of rambling, a woman runs up on stage and directs someone to turn his microphone off.
Historical Examples
The applications of the microphone were soon of great importance.
Heroes of the TelegraphJ. Munro
He hauled the microphone from its cubby in the dashboard and spoke the code words.
Raiders InvisibleDesmond Winter Hall
He thumbed down the communicator-button and spoke into a microphone.
Pariah PlanetMurray Leinster
When contact had been established, Somers took the microphone and stated their situation.
Death WishRobert Sheckley
He located the communicator controls, and picked up the microphone.
The PlayersEverett B. Cole
microphone
- 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
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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 microphone
n.
1680s, "ear trumpet for the hard-of-hearing," coined from Greek mikros "small" (see mica) + phone "sound" (see fame (n.)). Modern meaning dates from 1929, from use in radio broadcasting and movie recording. Earlier, "amplifying telephone transmitter" (1878). Of the two spellings of the short form of the word, mike (1927) is older than mic (1961).
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Online Etymology Dictionary, © 2010 Douglas Harper