telephone
Americannoun
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telephones
plural
verb (used with object)
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telephones,
present (3rd person singular)
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telephoned,
past participle, past
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telephoning
present participle
-
to speak to or summon (a person) by telephone.
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to send (a message) by telephone.
verb (used without object)
-
telephones,
present (3rd person singular)
-
telephoned,
past participle, past
-
telephoning
present participle
noun
-
-
Also called: telephone set. an electrical device for transmitting speech, consisting of a microphone and receiver mounted on a handset
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( as modifier )
a telephone receiver
-
-
-
a worldwide system of communications using telephones. The microphone in one telephone converts sound waves into electrical signals that are transmitted along a telephone wire or by radio to one or more distant sets, the receivers of which reconvert the incoming signal into the original sound
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( as modifier )
a telephone exchange
a telephone call
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-
See telephone box
verb
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to call or talk to (a person) by telephone
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to transmit (a recorded message, radio or television programme, or other information) by telephone, using special transmitting and receiving equipment
Other Word Forms
Derived Forms
Inflected Forms
Nouns
Participles
Conjugated Forms
Present
-
telephonesimple
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telephonessimple
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have telephonedperfect
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has telephonedperfect
-
am telephoningprogressive
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are telephoningprogressive
-
is telephoningprogressive
-
have been telephoningperfect progressive
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has been telephoningperfect progressive
Past
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telephonedsimple
-
had telephonedperfect
-
was telephoningprogressive
-
were telephoningprogressive
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had been telephoningperfect progressive
Future
Etymology
Origin of telephone
Explanation
A telephone is an electronic device that you use for conversations over great distances. Telephones used to be fixed to walls and connected by cables, but now most people have cellular telephones, known as cell phones or mobiles. A telephone takes sound waves, converts it into electronic signals, and then converts that back into sound waves — pretty neat. Early telephones frightened people because it seemed spooky that someone not in the room (or even the country) could speak to you, but nowadays distant communication seems perfectly normal. If your mother asks you to telephone her, she wants you to give her a call. The word comes from the Greek words for "afar" (tele-) and "voice"(phone).
Vocabulary lists containing telephone
Common Senses: Phon ("Sound")
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The Industrial Revolution - Introductory
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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.
See Examples For:
Western Electric’s clear-cased Model 302 telephone enticed gawkers with an impressively complex system of wires and mechanisms.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2026
I was literally stapling posters to telephone poles—“playing here on Friday.”
From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 5, 2026
It resulted in Dame Esther setting up Childline, a national telephone helpline for children suffering abuse or neglect.
From BBC ● Sep. 30, 2026
Jeanne de Montagnac, 29, stood by her husband and two-year-old daughter, perched on his shoulders with a telephone number scribbled in biro pen on her arm.
From Barron's ● Sep. 26, 2026
“How often do people leave their names with telephone operators?”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
At the heart of Britain's coin factory, old Bank of England telephones are stripped down and dipped into giant vats to recover a hidden treasure: the gold in their circuits.
From Barron's ● Aug. 4, 2026
"We look at all of the data we have in our telephones, CCTV, the audio. There's that wealth of documentary evidence. And of course, when you go back such a long time, witnesses pass away."
From BBC ● May 26, 2026
The U.S. government broke up AT&T in 1982 because a company owning phone lines and telephones was anticompetitive.
From MarketWatch ● Nov. 19, 2025
By one count, there were 88,000 telephones in service in the Financial District in 1920.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Sep. 28, 2025
Mail, telephones, radios, newspapers, and televisions are all banned, so the only news we get comes from the chief.
From "First They Killed My Father: A Daughter of Cambodia Remembers" by Loung Ung
Shortly after Andy Burnham telephoned a number of Keir Starmer's allies to sack them from the cabinet on Monday afternoon, John Healey received the signal to head to Number 10.
From BBC ● Jul. 21, 2026
Sheinbaum, who is opposed to unilateral military action on Mexican soil, quickly telephoned Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
She telephoned famous anthropologist Louis Leakey out of the blue just hoping for some advice.
From Salon ● Oct. 1, 2025
At some point in the ’70s or ’80s, Kauffman said, his brother telephoned him for a brief chat.
From Los Angeles Times ● Dec. 4, 2024
At Riddick’s request, Wilbur Hobby, the AFL-CIO leader, telephoned C.P. to let him know about the first organizational meeting to be held at the local YWCA.
From "The Best of Enemies" by Osha Gray Davidson
In her book, Harris recounts the hours after Biden’s sudden withdrawal, when she began telephoning top Democrats around the country to lock in their support.
From Los Angeles Times ● Sep. 28, 2025
The Department for the Economy's careers service is also operating an online advice service or by telephoning 0300 200 7820.
From BBC ● Aug. 14, 2025
One of them, a tax attorney named Gordon, was coaxed onto stage for the purpose of publicly telephoning his wife.
From Washington Post ● Apr. 24, 2023
In November, a day before her 97th birthday, Ruth fell in her apartment and hit her head, telephoning Judy from the floor when she could not get up.
From New York Times ● Jan. 1, 2021
I asked the English-speaking one if he would please do me the favor of telephoning Dr. Omar Azzam at the number I had.
From "The Autobiography of Malcolm X" by Alex Malcolm X;Hailey
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.
