walkie-talkie
Americannoun
-
walkie-talkies
plural
noun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of walkie-talkie
Explanation
A walkie-talkie is a wireless, handheld transceiver that allows two-way communication using radio signals. Walkie-talkies are perfect for communicating in remote places where there's no cellphone signal. With a pair of walkie-talkies, you and a friend can hold a conversation, both sending and receiving signals over a radio channel. The earliest walkie-talkies were used by the military, starting in the 1930s. Designed to be portable and lightweight, the first version was called a "handy-talkie," with the original official walkie-talkie put to wide use by the U.S. during World War II. These simple, quick, two-way communication devices are still popular today on work crews and in wilderness areas far from cell towers. They can also be fun for kids to play with.
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.
See Examples For:
At one of the district's main entrances, an armed member of the government security forces was holding a walkie-talkie and a map of where his personnel were deployed.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
Left behind on the street outside the Louvre was the truck, a jerry can, a blowtorch, angle grinders, a walkie-talkie and yellow vests.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 31, 2025
“If he’s grabbing the walkie-talkie, it’s something important.”
From Los Angeles Times ● Mar. 26, 2025
Lebanon strongly condemned the pager and walkie-talkie attacks, while the UN's human rights chief, Volker Turk, said they had left him "appalled".
From BBC ● Dec. 23, 2024
I have just ducked between the trees when the walkie-talkie crackles loudly.
From "The Sky at Our Feet" by Nadia Hashimi
At that time, Suu Kyi faced a series of charges ranging from violating Covid restrictions and illegally importing communications equipment such as walkie-talkies, to voter fraud and corruption, all of which she denied.
From BBC ● May 1, 2026
Long-range walkie-talkies let the driver communicate with kids who have, for obvious reasons, decided to hide under the bed with them.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Fuad Farhat, 55, from the area's Bab Touma district, was supervising the deployment of several unarmed, black-clad Christian men with walkie-talkies in front of the churches.
From Barron's ● Dec. 24, 2025
They had parked in the back of the facility, and they had walkie-talkies.
From Slate ● Oct. 27, 2025
A couple security guards rush through the hallways, walkie-talkies in hand.
From "Love, Hate & Other Filters" by Samira Ahmed
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
