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telephonist

American

[tuh-lef-uh-nist, tel-uh-foh-] / təˈlɛf ə nɪst, ˈtɛl əˌfoʊ- /

noun

Chiefly British.

a telephone switchboard operator.

telephonist British

/ tɪˈlɛfənɪst /

noun

Also called (esp US): telephone operator. a person who operates a telephone switchboard

"Collins English Dictionary — Complete & Unabridged" 2012 Digital Edition © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009, 2012

Etymology

Origin of telephonist

First recorded in 1875–80; telephone + -ist

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.

After war service as a telephonist and a sign painter, she married the Swiss sculptor, René Graetz, and in 1946 they moved to the bombed-out city of Berlin to help build a socialist Germany.

From BBC • Jun. 5, 2022

Mr. Murphy, a retired valet, telephonist and unrepentant hoarder, owns a small house in Dublin’s north inner city, but his eyesight is failing and he cannot afford to pay for home care.

From New York Times • Dec. 24, 2017

Opportunities were limited for women, but you may well have been a secretary or telephonist...

From BBC • May 25, 2012

When I tried to send him a telegram saying 'How dare you call me a cult?' the telephonist refused to send it.

From The Guardian • Dec. 12, 2010

They stopped at the place where they had tapped in before and the telephonist busied himself connecting up his instrument.

From Between the Lines by Cable, Boyd

Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023