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').
Scan code
englishreference.com/q/phone-number