pager

¹ American  

[pey-jer] / ˈpeɪ dʒər /

noun

1. something, as a book or brochure, having a specified number of pages (usually used in combination).

   Her latest report was a 12-pager.

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pager ² American  

[pey-jer] / ˈpeɪ dʒər /

noun

1. beeper.

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pager British  

/ ˈpeɪdʒə /

noun

1. a small electronic device, capable of receiving short messages; usually carried by people who need to be contacted urgently (e.g. doctors)

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pager Cultural  

1. A wireless device that, when activated, signals the bearer to contact either a predetermined party or the party indicated on the device itself. Often called a beeper for the annoying beeps some pagers use to alert their owner.

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Etymology

Origin of pager¹

First recorded in 1965–70; page ¹ + -er ¹

Origin of pager²

1965–70; page ² ( def. ) + -er ¹

Explanation

A pager is an electronic device that's used for simple communication between two people. Most pagers beep or vibrate when they receive a message. Once cellphones became commonplace, fewer people used pagers, which are a much simpler communication tool. Most pagers can only receive messages, and many of them are only capable of displaying numbers. If you used a pager during their peak of popularity in the 1990s, you would probably have paged your friend the digits of your phone number; your friend would then have called you on the phone. Today, pagers are still used by emergency services for quick communication.

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

pager

Tech expert Luca Arnaboldi said pager technology - which dates back as far as the 1950s but were most commonly used from the 1980s - was "never meant for privacy"

From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2026

An alarm on his pager rips him from sleep at 1 a.m.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 3, 2026

He kept a pager clipped to his belt.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Feb. 3, 2026

Last year, on 17 September, at around 15:30, a pager which a nurse called Adam was given at the start of his shift at a hospital in Lebanon received a message.

From BBC ● Apr. 3, 2025

Mom glances at the blank screen of her pager, hoping it will go off.

From "Wintergirls" by Laurie Halse Anderson

Related Words

• intercom