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• phone-in
  phone-in

  noun

  call in.
• phone in
  phone in

  verb

  (intr) to make a telephone call to deliver information (esp to a broadcasting studio or place of work)

phone-in

American  

[fohn-in] / ˈfoʊnˌɪn /

noun

1. call in.

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phone-in ¹ British  

noun

1. 1. a radio or television programme in which listeners' or viewers' questions, comments, etc, are telephoned to the studio and broadcast live

   2. ( as modifier )

      a phone-in discussion

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phone in ² British  

verb

1. (intr) to make a telephone call to deliver information (esp to a broadcasting studio or place of work)

2. slang (tr) to deliver (a performance) in a perfunctory manner

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Etymology

Origin of phone-in

First recorded in 1965–70; noun, adj. use of verb phrase phone in

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phone-in phone in

Harris gathered some 50 people for a mass phone-in, easily surpassing the British phone regulator’s 52-call threshold.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 8, 2026

Take Nigel Farage, leader of the populist party Reform UK, who has known Trump for close to a decade, hosted him on his phone-in radio show and visited him in the Oval Office.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 22, 2026

But in 1968, BBC Nottingham launched what is believed to be Britain's first radio phone-in show.

From BBC ● Mar. 7, 2026

Paying tribute, broadcaster and journalist Paul Rowley said he had been "privileged to work with him" at LBC and the BBC, calling Hayes "the best phone-in presenter on British radio".

From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025

He said callers should be treated as "real people with something to say" and that the phone-in should be treated "like a conversation that matters".

From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025

Don't allow yourself to be in a situation where your stress relief is scrolling on a phone in bed.

From BBC ● Sep. 6, 2026

Twisting her phone in her hands, Santoshi broke down into tears as she recalled the anguish of not knowing for hours whether her parents had survived.

From Barron's ● Sep. 6, 2026

I tried it recently in my neighborhood supermarket and discovered, phone in hand, that a package of Earthbound Farm broccoli florets had a Taylor Farms connection I would otherwise never have known about.

From Salon ● Aug. 27, 2026

Mr. Trump was talking to Tucker Carlson by phone in the weeks before the Iran war commenced.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 13, 2026

Then he held a finger to his lips, because the phone in his hand began vibrating.

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix

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