telephone
Americannoun
verb (used with object)
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to speak to or summon (a person) by telephone.
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to send (a message) by telephone.
verb (used without object)
noun
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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
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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
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telephonesimple
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telephonessimple
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have telephonedperfect
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has telephonedperfect
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am telephoningprogressive
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are telephoningprogressive
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is telephoningprogressive
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have been telephoningperfect progressive
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has been telephoningperfect progressive
Past
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telephonedsimple
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had telephonedperfect
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was telephoningprogressive
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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:
The embassy also set up the telephone hotlines to "provide information and assistance to affected families".
From BBC ● Jul. 11, 2026
In nearby Altadena, another wind phone sits in a wooden framed telephone booth with vertical glass windows at the end of a brick walkway.
From Los Angeles Times ● Jul. 6, 2026
As a teenager, he interned for Comcast, spending high school and college summers climbing telephone poles and selling cable subscriptions door to door.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jul. 2, 2026
"The kids are going to school because they can pay for the school fees. They can pay for medical bills in the hospital and buy medicine," she told AFP in a telephone interview.
From Barron's ● Jul. 2, 2026
One morning in the middle of June the telephone rang with this message.
From "The Hiding Place" by Corrie ten Boom
So far, the French platform has not monetised carpooling in India, where people pay each other directly, often using the popular digital UPI mobile telephones payment systems.
From Barron's ● May 31, 2026
Pakistan has so far walked the tightrope between Iran and the US, passing messages between the two sides, hosting foreign ministers from other concerned Muslim nations and hitting the diplomatic telephones.
From BBC ● Mar. 30, 2026
But it was clear the innovation wouldn’t necessarily be limited to telephones.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Mar. 28, 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
Mrs. Cranston nagged Mr. Cranston until he had one of the new telephones installed under the front staircase, where it rang its head off.
From "Secrets at Sea" by Richard Peck
Sheinbaum, who is opposed to unilateral military action on Mexican soil, quickly telephoned Trump.
From The Wall Street Journal ● Jan. 30, 2026
Kawther describes an agonising wait on the day the children were due to arrive until finally Unicef telephoned.
From BBC ● Jan. 1, 2025
According to testimony from a former agriculture official, Menendez telephoned one day to order him to stand down in his efforts to oppose the monopoly.
From Seattle Times ● Jun. 4, 2024
"I just telephoned Ashley Judd, the first actress to come forward with allegations against Mr. Weinstein, and shared the news from the court," Kantor wrote in the update.
From Salon ● Apr. 25, 2024
“If they’d telephoned twice at the same time, maybe we could assume something about their work schedule. When the times are so different, it doesn’t seem to mean anything. But there is something else.”
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Blinken was telephoning world leaders in an effort to decide on a course of action, a State Department spokesman said.
From Los Angeles Times ● Oct. 7, 2023
The Department for the Economy's careers service is also offering advice online or by telephoning 0300 200 7820.
From BBC ● Aug. 17, 2023
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
The brothers raced up to their high-rise office and tried telephoning her.
From New York Times ● Feb. 26, 2023
“Mrs. Nwizu will soon stop telephoning to tell me she saw him there,” her mother said.
From "Half of a Yellow Sun" by Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie
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.
