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• radio
  radio

  noun

  wireless telegraphy or telephony.
• radio-
  radio-

  a combining form with the meanings “dealing with radiant energy” (radiometer ), “employing or dealing with radio waves” (radioacoustics; radiolocation; radiotelephone ), “emitting rays as a result of the breakup of atomic nuclei” (radioactive; radiocarbon ), “characterized by, employing or dealing with such rays” (radiography; radiopaque; radiotherapy ).

radio

¹ American  

[ray-dee-oh] / ˈreɪ diˌoʊ /

noun

• radios
  plural

1. wireless telegraphy or telephony.

   speeches broadcast by radio.

2. an apparatus for receiving or transmitting radio broadcasts.

3. a message transmitted by radio.

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adjective

1. pertaining to, used in, or sent by radio.

2. pertaining to or employing radiations, as of electrical energy.

verb (used with object)

• radios,
  present (3rd person singular)
• radioed,
  past participle,  past
• radioing
  present participle

1. to transmit (a message, music, etc.) by radio.

2. to send a message to (a person) by radio.

verb (used without object)

• radios,
  present (3rd person singular)
• radioed,
  past participle,  past
• radioing
  present participle

1. to transmit a message, music, etc., by radio.

radio- ² American  

1. a combining form with the meanings “dealing with radiant energy” (radiometer ), “employing or dealing with radio waves” (radioacoustics; radiolocation; radiotelephone ), “emitting rays as a result of the breakup of atomic nuclei” (radioactive; radiocarbon ), “characterized by, employing or dealing with such rays” (radiography; radiopaque; radiotherapy ).

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radio ¹ British  

/ ˈreɪdɪəʊ /

noun

1. the use of electromagnetic waves, lying in the radio-frequency range, for broadcasting, two-way communications, etc

2. Also called (esp Brit): wireless. an electronic device designed to receive, demodulate, and amplify radio signals from sound broadcasting stations, etc

3. a similar device permitting both transmission and reception of radio signals for two-way communications

4. the broadcasting, content, etc, of sound radio programmes

   he thinks radio is poor these days

5. 1. the occupation or profession concerned with any aspect of the broadcasting of sound radio programmes

      he's in radio

   2. (modifier) relating to, produced for, or transmitted by sound radio

      radio drama

6. short for radiotelegraph radiotelegraphy radiotelephone

7. (modifier)

   1. of, relating to, employed in, or sent by radio signals

      a radio station

   2. of, concerned with, using, or operated by radio frequencies

      radio spectrum

8. (modifier) (of a motor vehicle) equipped with a radio for communication

   radio car

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verb

1. to transmit (a message) to (a person, radio station, etc) by means of radio waves

radio- ² British  

combining form

1. denoting radio, broadcasting, or radio frequency

   radiogram

2. indicating radioactivity or radiation

   radiochemistry

   radiolucent

3. indicating a radioactive isotope or substance

   radioactinium

   radiothorium

   radioelement

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radio Scientific  

/ rā′dē-ō /

1. The equipment used to generate, alter, transmit, and receive radio waves so that they carry information.

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1. Relating to or involving the emission of radio waves.

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• preradio
  adjective

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• radios
  plural

Participles

• radioing
  present
• radioed
  past

Conjugated Forms

Present

• radio
  simple
• radios
  simple
• have radioed
  perfect
• has radioed
  perfect
• am radioing
  progressive
• are radioing
  progressive
• is radioing
  progressive
• have been radioing
  perfect progressive
• has been radioing
  perfect progressive

Past

• radioed
  simple
• had radioed
  perfect
• was radioing
  progressive
• were radioing
  progressive
• had been radioing
  perfect progressive

Future

• will radio
  simple
• will have radioed
  perfect
• will be radioing
  progressive
• will have been radioing
  perfect progressive

Etymology

Origin of radio¹

1910–15; shortening of radiotelegraph or radiotelegraphy

Origin of radio-²

< French, combining form representing Latin radius beam, ray, radius

Explanation

Radio is a way of transmitting sound using electromagnetic waves called radio waves. Nowadays, people usually only listen to the radio as they drive, but — before television — radio provided prime-time entertainment. When you turn on your car radio, you probably take for granted the many choices of music and talk stations you can choose from. The radio's electronic components do the amazing job of catching fast-moving radio waves in the air and translating them into sounds you can hear. Radios were originally called wireless because they transmit energy using waves instead of wires. The Latin root of radio is radius, "beam."

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

radio radio- radios radioed radioing

Palestinian journalist Anas Baba of NPR won the radio award for a report on the recovery of victims' bodies in Gaza.

From Barron's ● Oct. 10, 2026

Professional football would not see the last of him, however, as he went on to do radio and TV broadcasting for programs such as The NFL Today, Monday Night Football and SportsCenter.

From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 9, 2026

Instead of using a conventional metal structure, the device relies on a laser to create a narrow beam of plasma capable of transmitting radio waves.

From Science Daily ● Oct. 9, 2026

A native of San Jose, she grew up in a conservative household where the radio was permanently tuned to Christian stations.

From BBC ● Oct. 9, 2026

He turned away from the map and began barking orders into a two-way radio, directing a search party to head immediately for Fish Head Bay.

From "Earthquake Terror" by Peg Kehret

Surgery cures most breast cancer - but if some disease remains, chemo-, radio- and endocrine therapy can reduce the long-term risk of dying.

From BBC ● Jun. 13, 2023

The cooling water picks up radio- nuclides, many of which are then captured by a specially developed filtering process.

From Science Magazine ● Jan. 23, 2023

This 263-dish radio- and millimeter-wave interferometer will observe star-forming regions, active black holes and light associated with exploding stars with 10 times the sensitivity and resolution of the VLA.

From Scientific American ● Nov. 16, 2021

Crestview, a New York-based private-equity firm, created a strategic partnership with Cumulus in April to invest in radio- broadcasting companies.

From BusinessWeek ● Mar. 10, 2011

All these consequences of radiation have been duplicated in laboratory studies by a large group of chemicals known as radio- mimetic or radiation-imitating.

From "Silent Spring" by Rachel Carson

Car radios were still uncommon, but one afternoon, the airborne commander spent 20 minutes chewing out a Sunday driver he saw weaving and dodging through a traffic jam in Queens.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 16, 2026

We followed games on transistor radios and TV, and did our best to imitate star players.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 15, 2026

L3Harris provides waveforms and radios that can help circumvent the type of electronic jamming that Russia has been using to disrupt Ukrainian drones.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Aug. 28, 2026

The mint also uses recycled silver, some of it extracted from old radios supplied by British hospitals.

From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026

She would invent little tiny radios the size of a green pea that people could carry around and stick in their ears.

From "The Heart is a Lonely Hunter" by Carson McCullers

He had no idea until one of the other choppers radioed him to tell him.

From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 19, 2026

Early next morning, a drone was sent up and soon after, the operator radioed them.

From BBC ● Sep. 11, 2026

Minutes earlier, the pilot radioed in to staff at the tower, SoCal Approach, asking if a drone was near that location.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 29, 2026

The controller later radioed commands for the truck to stop.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 24, 2026

“We were terribly tired and eventually fell asleep. When I woke up the next morning at about 5:00 A.M., and he hadn’t radioed, I realised we had lost him.”

From "Into Thin Air" by Jon Krakauer

One Indian seafarer has been radioing to say his ship is out of provisions and fresh water, with two crew members in critical condition.

From The Wall Street Journal ● May 9, 2026

"As soon as I stepped my foot over the threshold of the door, they were radioing each other and they all surrounded me and were like 'you need to leave the store'," she said.

From BBC ● Jun. 14, 2025

Moments after the capsule reached orbit, a SpaceX mission control manager was heard jokingly radioing to the crew: "If you enjoyed your ride, please don't forget to give us five stars."

From Reuters ● Mar. 2, 2023

I call on the way and, like the pilot of a stricken plane radioing ahead with an order to foam the runway, I request that they get some drum hardware bags ready for me.

From Washington Post ● Oct. 2, 2022

The only thing happening was a lot of radioing between mission control and the astronauts.

From "Gone Crazy in Alabama" by Rita Williams-Garcia

Related Words

• transmission
• wireless