pay phone
Americannoun
Other Word Forms
Noun Inflected Forms
Etymology
Origin of pay phone
First recorded in 1935–40
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.
At one point, he said, his telephone service was turned off, forcing him use a pay phone for calls.
From Los Angeles Times • Jun. 8, 2026
In urban neighborhoods, the local candy store often had a pay phone and acted as a message center for the surrounding area.
From The Wall Street Journal • Apr. 26, 2026
As Chesnoff talks in the “Jinx” episode, red carpet footage from the “All Good Things” premiere briefly appears, as do clips of Lehrman posing as Katie and making a call from a pay phone.
From New York Times • May 12, 2024
A light caught my eye, shining on a relic of a bygone analog era: a pay phone, housed under a Whidbey Telecom cover.
From Seattle Times • Dec. 30, 2023
“Sure I called them. But nobody answered down there. So get your tail over here, will you please? 1 haven’t disturbed a thing. I’m even calling from the pay phone on the p>orch.”
From "The Milagro Beanfield War" by John Nichols
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.
