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.

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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

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Etymology

Origin of touch-tone

An Americanism dating back to 1955–60

Example Sentences

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

She remembers being mystified by a test question involving a touch-tone phone.

From New York Times • Jul. 15, 2021

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

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

Phone phreaks believe AT&T had deliberately equipped touch tones with a different set of frequencies to avoid putting the six master M-F tones in the hands of every touch-tone owner.

From Slate • Oct. 7, 2011