phone

1 of 5

noun (1)

plural phones
1
: a device by which sound (such as speech) is converted into electrical impulses and transmitted (as by wire or radio waves) to one or more specific receivers (see receiver sense d(1)) : telephone
Once it was as simple as this. I sat at my desk. The phone rang. I answered it.Malcolm Gladwell
received a phone call
: such as
a
: a telephone that operates by means of a landline
… the phone is in the front hall; this is an old-fashioned house …Alice Munro
b
: cell phone
… Dick got a call on his cell phone. Roxy grabbed the phone and answered.Mary-Anne Olmsted-Kohls
especially : smartphone
I have set an alert on my phone to make sure I don't forget a friend's birthday … Mike Vaccaro
2
: a device that converts electrical energy into sound waves and is worn over or inserted into the ear : earphone, headphone
The morning the "Smoking Gun" tape was played, tickets were so scarce that one couple from Kansas City, Mo., doubled up on earphones, she listening to the left, he to the right phone.Louise Sweeney
… taking off these RHA headphones and placing the Dr. Dre phones on my head, I realized the more expensive headphones did sound somewhat cleaner …Charlie White

phone

2 of 5

verb

phoned; phoning

phone

3 of 5

noun (2)

: a speech sound considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the sound system of a language

-phone

4 of 5

noun combining form

plural -phones
1
: sound-transmitting device
microphone
radiophone
2
: musical instrument
xylophone
3
: speech sound
homophone
: symbol representing a speech sound
polyphone
4
: speaker of (a specified language)
Francophone

-phone

5 of 5

adjective combining form

: of or relating to a population that speaks (a specified language)
Francophone

Examples of phone in a Sentence

Verb Someone from the newspaper will be phoning with a few questions. she phoned her friend to invite her over for dinner
Recent Examples on the Web
Noun
Another alternative is VoIP, or voice-over internet protocol, phone service. Heather Kelly, Washington Post, 23 Mar. 2024 Stewart told the Statesman by phone that Huber was driving a vehicle at the time of her arrest but declined to clarify whether Huber in the same vehicle as the other two suspects. Angela Palermo, Idaho Statesman, 22 Mar. 2024 In an email shared with PEOPLE Friday, the Clark County School District (CCSD) announced that starting in the 2024-2025 school year, students in grades 6 to 12 will have to use signal-blocking pouches to store their phones during classroom instruction. David Chiu, Peoplemag, 22 Mar. 2024 None of the three responded to requests for comment in emails, by phone and through lawyers. Sebastian Rotella, ProPublica, 22 Mar. 2024 Officials have said the service is filling in the gaps in the public transportation system, allowing individual riders to hail a van via a phone app and get dropped off at bus stops or elsewhere in the service area. Sarah Ritter, Kansas City Star, 22 Mar. 2024 Capitol security officials have responded with a number of new initiatives, including issuing satellite phones to senators and providing police protection during some air travel. Scott MacFarlane, CBS News, 22 Mar. 2024 In ways that will surely prompt a few winces of viewer recognition, that phone is Angela’s closest companion. Justin Chang, The New Yorker, 22 Mar. 2024 Neuralink's goal with its human trials is to eventually enable a person with paralysis to use a computer or phone with their brain activity alone. Sarah Al-Arshani, USA TODAY, 22 Mar. 2024
Verb
Soon after, Bell says, Schneider phoned him asking if the case was tied to the young actor. Gil Kaufman, Billboard, 13 Mar. 2024 Angela Chao, the late sister-in-law of Mitch McConnell, reportedly phoned a friend for help as her vehicle became submerged in a pond on her Blanco County, Texas, ranch last month. Brenton Blanchet, Peoplemag, 10 Mar. 2024 The New York Police Department responded to the shelter at 31 Central Park North just after 11:30 a.m. after a caller phoned 911 to report the stabbing. Louis Casiano, Fox News, 28 Feb. 2024 Police were only called after the woman faked a call to the man’s actual apartment managers and instead called her husband, who phoned authorities for help. Jakob Rodgers, The Mercury News, 20 Feb. 2024 Increasingly, police departments are learning to try to phone ahead before squad cars arrive at a scene, in the hopes of speaking to someone there who can give them some indication of whether the threat is real or a hoax. Devlin Barrett, Washington Post, 12 Jan. 2024 Avant recalled phoning her late mother, Jacqueline Avant, for parenting advice when things got tough. Angel Saunders, Peoplemag, 7 Mar. 2024 Everybody really brought their biggest heart to that movie and nobody phoned it in, because everybody was dedicated to making a great long-lasting rom-com, starting with the great script and director. Lauren Huff, EW.com, 28 Feb. 2024 Another relative phoned me, flustered, in a big-box store because the salesperson was being pushy about a particular overpriced laptop. Simon Hill, WIRED, 26 Feb. 2024

These examples are programmatically compiled from various online sources to illustrate current usage of the word 'phone.' Any opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback about these examples.

Word History

Etymology

Noun (1)

by shortening

Verb

derivative of phone entry 1

Noun (2)

borrowed from Greek phōnḗ "voice, speech" — more at phono-

Noun combining form

borrowed from Greek -phōnos "having a sound (of the kind or number specified)," derivative of phōnḗ "sound made by something living, voice, speech, utterance"; (sense 4) borrowed from French, borrowed from Greek -phōnos — more at phono-

Adjective combining form

borrowed from French — more at -phone entry 1

First Known Use

Noun (1)

1880, in the meaning defined at sense 1a

Verb

1885, in the meaning defined above

Noun (2)

circa 1866, in the meaning defined above

Time Traveler
The first known use of phone was circa 1866

Dictionary Entries Near phone

Cite this Entry

“Phone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/phone. Accessed 28 Mar. 2024.

Kids Definition

phone

1 of 3 noun

phone

2 of 3 verb
phoned; phoning

-phone

3 of 3 noun combining form
ˌfōn
: sound
homophone
often in names of musical instruments and sound-sending devices
radiophone
xylophone
Etymology

Noun combining form

from Greek phōnē "voice, sound"

More from Merriam-Webster on phone

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