pager

¹

[pey-jer]

noun

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

   Her latest report was a 12-pager.

pager

²

[pey-jer]

noun

1. beeper.

pager

/ 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)

pager

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.

Word History and Origins

Origin of pager¹

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

Origin of pager²

1965–70; page ² ( def. ) + -er ¹

Example Sentences

In September last year, hundreds of Hezbollah pagers and walkie-talkies exploded in an Israeli operation that paralysed the group's communications systems and that Lebanon said killed 39 people and wounded thousands.

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Whether it was a serious crash, chimney fire or a cow trapped in a pond, when their pager went off, they were first on the scene.

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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.

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This decision is one of the best things about “Holland,” which brims with recently retro production design in Windows desktop computers, early cell phones and pagers, tapes rented from video stores and high-rise dad jeans.

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The beep of Dan Crook's emergency pager signals another job and he rushes off to the ambulance arrival bay.

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Related Words

• intercom