microphone

American  

[mahy-kruh-fohn] / ˈmaɪ krəˌfoʊn /

noun

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

---

microphone British  

/ 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

---

Etymology

Origin of microphone

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

Explanation

A microphone is an electric device that amplifies the sound of a voice or instrument. If you're going to stand up in front of a large crowd and want to be heard, you better use a microphone. Microphones require electricity and amplifiers to work — what they do is take a sound and convert it into an electrical signal. That signal can then be amplified and sent to a speaker or recorded. Performers can sing softly into a microphone and still be heard clearly by an audience member at the very back of a huge concert hall. The popularity of radio and film inspired this meaning of microphone — originally, the word meant "ear trumpet for the hard-of-hearing."

Example Sentences

Perhaps he should puff out his chest and stop sharing the microphone with his OKC teammates.

From The Wall Street Journal • May 18, 2026

Over a microphone, designer Callie Kinnan describes her decision to resew the entire garment in a new material: “The stretch mesh didn’t work. It kept warping when I sewed.”

From Los Angeles Times • May 11, 2026

But things turned strange the morning of April 12, when the ship's captain announced into a microphone that a passenger had died.

From Barron's • May 6, 2026

One hand holding a microphone, the other arm tightly tucked across her chest, she retreated to her zones of rhetorical comfort: grievance, victimhood, outrage.

From Slate • May 6, 2026

“Take your seats, please,” he said into the microphone.

From "Found" by Margaret Peterson Haddix