Jump To:

• 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.

---

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

---

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

---

Etymology

Origin of phone-in

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

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

phone-in phone in

She later appeared in the Sport, but said she was often given the worst jobs including once working on the paper's phone-in lines.

From BBC ● Jun. 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

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

It was as the morning interview and phone-in show host on LBC from 1976 that he properly began to make a name for himself.

From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025

TalkTV broadcaster Mark Dolan noted how the man known as the "piranha of the airwaves" had "reinvented the phone-in format in the UK - with stunning success".

From BBC ● Dec. 1, 2025

I’d add both are always screaming on their phone in public.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 5, 2026

Reports that Charter Communications has discussed partnering with SpaceX on a consumer mobile phone in the U.S. pressured telecom stocks.

From Barron's ● Jun. 30, 2026

The posts have since been taken down with and the MoJ have said any offender caught with a phone in prison will face punishment, which could include additional time behind bars.

From BBC ● Jun. 23, 2026

In the suit, she claims that she was contacted by someone posing as a talent agent or producer and tricked into offering “private details of her life” over the phone in 2022.

From Los Angeles Times ● Jun. 19, 2026

“He knows, he just doesn’t want to tell us,” Ana says, sliding her phone in her pocket.

From "The Tenth Mistake of Hank Hooperman" by Gennifer Choldenko