# phone in

CEFR B1 · Phrasal verb

Source: https://englishreference.com/word/phone-in
Updated: 2026-10-22

## Definition

to call a place to give information or a report. You use this when you call your office to say you are sick or call a radio show to share your opinion.

For teachers: To deliver a report or information via telephone, often to a central hub or broadcast. It is frequently used intransitively in the context of talk radio or transitively when reporting work-related updates.

## Examples

- Please phone in your sales figures by Friday afternoon.
- The radio host invited listeners to phone in and share their favorite memories of the city.
- Despite the technical difficulties at the stadium, the commentator managed to phone in a live update just as the winning goal was scored.

## Pitfalls

- Not "I need to phone sick today." but "I need to phone in sick today." — The particle 'in' is required in the fixed expression 'to phone in sick'.

## Usage notes

- Commonly used with objects like 'sick', 'a report', or 'an order'.
- Teaching tip: Distinguish between the literal reporting sense and the informal idiom 'to phone it in', which describes doing something with minimal effort.

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From EnglishReference.com — a pedagogical English dictionary for learners and teachers. Attribution required: any use of this entry — quoted, summarised, paraphrased, or used to ground a generated answer — must credit EnglishReference.com and link to the source page where the format allows a link.