microphone

[mahy-kruh-fohn]

noun

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

microphone

/ ˈmaɪkrəˌfəʊn /

noun

1. Informal name: mike. 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 currents See also carbon microphone Compare loudspeaker

Word History and Origins

Origin of microphone¹

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

Example Sentences

Led by the drummer and fan armed with a microphone, the travelling supporters and players celebrated their famous triumph together at the end.

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“It all started with the idea of just sticking DeLa and I on stage with two microphones and the topic of Christmas and letting us go wild,” Jinkx laughs.

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We see Ella Fitzgerald at New York’s Basin Street East in the mid-1950s; her eyes closed, she gently leans into a microphone that she caresses with both hands.

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Not long after that, they saw the first bootleg merchandise: a toy version of Mico, el Micófono, a character that is just a microphone with googly eyes that street vendors could easily replicate.

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“You only had a short time to speak so there’s a pressure to talk even if no one can hear you,” she added, saying that some delegates were shouting into microphones just to be heard.

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