telephone

n. countable

A1 Beginner Oxford US //ˈtɛɫəˌfoʊn// UK //tˈɛlɪfˌəʊn// tele·phone

Archaic General-service

n. a piece of equipment you use to talk to people who are in a different place. It sends your voice through wires or radio waves so the other person can hear you.

n. an electronic device or system used for the transmission of sound or speech to a distant point. In modern contexts, it refers to both fixed-line hardware and mobile cellular devices.

SIMPLE

The telephone is ringing in the hallway.

CONTEXTUAL

Please leave your name and number after the beep so I can return your telephone call later.

COMPLEX

Before the advent of digital communication, the telephone served as the primary lifeline for families separated by vast geographical distances, requiring a physical connection to a local exchange.

Synonyms

Origin

First used by Alexander Graham Bell in 1876 to refer to the modern instrument, but previous devices had been given this name, which was borrowed from French téléphone. Ultimately from Ancient Greek τῆλε (têle, “afar”) + φωνή (phōnḗ, “voice, sound”).

Usage

Often shortened to 'phone' in both spoken and written English.

Idioms1 entry

01
telephone tag
A situation in which a person unsuccessfully attempts to contact another person by telephone and leaves a message instead, and in which the second person then unsuccessfully attempts to return the initial call and leaves a message for the first person, and so on as if the two are playing a game of tag in which the most recent person to have been left with a message is now designated as "it" (i.e. as the player now obliged to chase the other and to attempt anew to make contact).