text message

American  

noun

text messages plural

1. an electronic message sent over a cellular network from one cell phone to another by typing words, often in shortened form, as “l8t” for “late,” on the phone's numeric or QWERTY keypad.

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text message British  

noun

1. a written message sent by means of a mobile phone

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Other Word Forms

Noun Inflected Forms

• text messages
  plural

Etymology

Origin of text message

First recorded in 1975–80

Example Sentences

Then Esme was asked via text message to provide more detail, so she sent descriptions of what had happened, when and where, and waited for their call.

From BBC • Jun. 27, 2026

Still, there was something undeniably thrilling about receiving a text message from my dog.

From Slate • Jun. 20, 2026

The company’s core offering is an AI agent that resolves customer queries end-to-end, across numerous channels—including live chat, email, WhatsApp, text message, phone, and Slack.

From Barron's • Jun. 15, 2026

“With bg. All you would have to say, is you should know that I’ve told jeffrey everything – everything,” Epstein wrote in a text message.

From The Wall Street Journal • Jun. 8, 2026

Can’t you tell that when I saw that text message from Mom, I went back to being a four-year-old again?

From "The Strangers" by Margaret Peterson Haddix