Word
phone number
Definition
compound. The special sequence of numbers you use to call a person or a business on the telephone.
compound. A unique sequence of digits assigned to a telephone line or device, used to route calls to a specific recipient.
Examples
“Can I have your phone number?”
“He saved the new phone number in his contacts so he wouldn't forget it.”
“The old address book contained a phone number for a person who had not been heard from in over a decade.”
Examples
simple
“Can I have your phone number?”
contextual
“He saved the new phone number in his contacts so he wouldn't forget it.”
complex
“The old address book contained a phone number for a person who had not been heard from in over a decade.”
Usage
This compound noun is often written as two words, though 'phonenumber' is a common informal variant.
Teaching tip
Stress falls on the first word, 'PHONE number', which is a typical stress pattern for English compound nouns.
Pitfall
number of phone
phone number
In English compound nouns, the describing word ('phone') usually comes before the main noun ('number').