wireless

American  

[wahyuhr-lis] / ˈwaɪər lɪs /

adjective

1. having no wire.

2. noting or pertaining to any of various devices that are operated with or actuated by electromagnetic waves.

3. Chiefly British. radio.

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noun

• wirelesses
  plural

1. wireless telegraphy or telephony.

2. a wireless telegraph or telephone, or the like.

3. any system or device, as a cell phone, for transmitting messages or signals by electromagnetic waves.

4. a wireless message.

5. Chiefly British. radio.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to telegraph or telephone by wireless.

wireless British  

/ ˈwaɪəlɪs /

adjective

1. communicating without connecting wires or other material contacts

   wireless networks

   wireless internet connection

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noun

1. old-fashioned another word for radio

Other Word Forms

Derived Forms

• wirelessness
  noun
• prewireless
  adjective
• wirelessly
  adverb

Inflected Forms

Nouns

• wirelesses
  plural

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Etymology

Origin of wireless

First recorded in 1890–95; wire + -less

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Example Sentences

See Examples For:

wireless wirelesses

The education and communication category includes wireless and residential phone services.

From MarketWatch ● Oct. 14, 2026

At Thatcham Research's headquarters, we are shown a device hidden within a wireless speaker that can start a car by tapping into its internal communication system.

From BBC ● Oct. 14, 2026

SpaceX isn’t all the way there in its efforts to compete with the big three U.S. wireless carriers.

From Barron's ● Oct. 13, 2026

The Elon Musk-run company agreed to buy cellular spectrum licenses from investment firm Grain Management, a significant move into the wireless service market.

From The Wall Street Journal ● Oct. 9, 2026

She has told the Nazis she’s a wireless operator.

From "Code Name Verity" by Elizabeth Wein

We had one phone in the hall, wirelesses and typewriters; we wrote our essays by hand and we weren’t forever on call, stressed, agitated, panicking and with a squillion, brain-mashing choices to make.

From The Guardian ● Mar. 12, 2016

Correspondents filed endless wirelesses, but no event of real importance disturbed the word-painted ship upon its word-painted ocean.

From Time Magazine Archive

But in London last week, a considerable fraction of the population rose from warm beds and sat shivering beside wirelesses to hear the 7 a.m. news report of the Battle of Adelaide.

From Time Magazine Archive

"You still putting your faith in those wirelesses your uncle was going to have zigzagging round?"

From Flappers and Philosophers by F. Scott (Francis Scott) Fitzgerald

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