touch-tone

American  

[tuhch-tohn] / ˈtʌtʃˌtoʊn /

Or touchtone

adjective

1. of or relating to a tone-dialing system or a push-button phone operating on tone dialing.

---

noun

1. (sometimes initial capital letter) a tone-dialing system.

2. a telephone utilizing this system.

touch-tone British  

adjective

1. of or relating to a telephone dialling system in which each of the buttons pressed generates a tone of a different pitch, which is transmitted to the exchange

---

Etymology

Origin of touch-tone

An Americanism dating back to 1955–60

---

Example Sentences

See Examples For:

touch-tone

In the ’80s Palm Common Room, a vintage keyboard, a computer mouse and touch-tone phone hang on the walls.

From Los Angeles Times ● Apr. 15, 2026

One of the most reliable ways for the U.S. to reach North Korea is via a light pink-colored, touch-tone phone at the U.S.-led U.N.

From Seattle Times ● Jul. 20, 2023

The movie’s décor is also specific, from touch-tone phones and Selectric typewriters to the slanted-window city buses and graffiti-covered subway cars, neon signs and clothing styles of the seventies and eighties.

From The New Yorker ● Oct. 3, 2019

Ms. Fraser is meeting with a cluster of potential clients, who gather reverentially around a Cortelco 2500 touch-tone covered with paste gems and excremental pink blobs.

From New York Times ● May 8, 2017

Eligible voters are now mailed a passcode they use access a digital ballot either online or with a touch-tone phone.

From Washington Times ● Feb. 23, 2015

Random Word

Spin the wheel and learn a new word!

---