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

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

In 1963, the Bell System introduced the first commercial touch-tone telephone system in Carnegie and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

From Washington Times • Nov. 18, 2020

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

Previously, officials had to call in a number and use a touch-tone phone to report results, which sometimes led to erroneous reporting from clumsy fingers.

From New York Times • Jun. 8, 2015

He's had his back against the wall for the past few weeks and Idol keeps throwing theme weeks at him that are putting the big man in the middle of the touch-tone crosshairs.

From Seattle Times • Apr. 28, 2010