mobile phone

American

noun

any wireless telephone that operates over a relatively large area, as a cell phone or PCS phone.

mobile phone British

noun

a portable telephone that works by means of a cellular radio system

"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

Etymology

Origin of mobile phone

First recorded in 1945–50

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.

Gibson said: "We had statements from medical staff to say he was chatty, he was walking around, he was using his mobile phone, making phone calls."

From BBC • May 16, 2026

Vodafone last week announced it would take full ownership of Britain's biggest mobile phone operator, VodafoneThree.

From Barron's • May 12, 2026

Anyone with dashcam, CCTV, doorbell or mobile phone footage has been urged to contact police.

From BBC • May 9, 2026

North Korea had 6.35 million mobile phone subscriptions at the end of 2022, the most recent year for which data is available, according to the International Telecommunications Union.

From Barron's • May 5, 2026

Next he took a mobile phone out of his pocket and put it next to his plate and looked at it very seriously.

From "The London Eye Mystery" by Siobhan Dowd

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023