Adjacent Words

telephone definitions

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WordNet (r) 3.0 (2005)

n
1: electronic equipment that converts sound into electrical signals that can be transmitted over distances and then converts received signals back into sounds; "I talked to him on the telephone" [syn: telephone, phone, telephone set]
2: transmitting speech at a distance [syn: telephone, telephony] v
1: get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone; "I tried to call you all night"; "Take two aspirin and call me in the morning" [syn: call, telephone, call up, phone, ring]

Merriam Webster's

I. noun Usage: often attributive Date: 1844 an instrument for reproducing sounds at a distance; specifically one in which sound is converted into electrical impulses for transmission (as by wire) II. verb (-phoned; -phoning) Date: 1877 transitive verb 1. to speak to or attempt to reach by telephone 2. to send by telephone intransitive verb to communicate by telephone • telephoner noun

Oxford Reference Dictionary

n. & v. --n. 1 an apparatus for transmitting sound (esp. speech) to a distance by wire or cord or radio, esp. by converting acoustic vibrations to electrical signals. 2 a transmitting and receiving instrument used in this. 3 a system of communication using a network of telephones. --v. 1 tr. speak to (a person) by telephone. 2 tr. send (a message) by telephone. 3 intr. make a telephone call. Phrases and idioms: on the telephone 1 having a telephone. 2 by use of or using the telephone. over the telephone by use of or using the telephone. telephone book = telephone directory. telephone box Brit. = telephone booth. telephone booth (or kiosk) a public booth or enclosure from which telephone calls can be made. telephone call = CALL n. 4. telephone directory a book listing telephone subscribers and numbers in a particular area. telephone exchange = EXCHANGE n. 3. telephone number a number assigned to a particular telephone and used in making connections to it. telephone operator esp. US an operator in a telephone exchange. Derivatives: telephoner n. telephonic adj. telephonically adv.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Telephone Tel"e*phone, n. [Gr. ? far off + ? sound.] (Physics) An instrument for reproducing sounds, especially articulate speech, at a distance. Note: The ordinary telephone consists essentially of a device by which currents of electricity, produced by sounds through the agency of certain mechanical devices and exactly corresponding in duration and intensity to the vibrations of the air which attend them, are transmitted to a distant station, and there, acting on suitable mechanism, reproduce similar sounds by repeating the vibrations. The necessary variations in the electrical currents are usually produced by means of a microphone attached to a thin diaphragm upon which the voice acts, and are intensified by means of an induction coil. In the magnetic telephone, or magneto-telephone, the diaphragm is of soft iron placed close to the pole of a magnet upon which is wound a coil of fine wire, and its vibrations produce corresponding vibrable currents in the wire by induction. The mechanical, or string, telephone is a device in which the voice or sound causes vibrations in a thin diaphragm, which are directly transmitted along a wire or string connecting it to a similar diaphragm at the remote station, thus reproducing the sound. It does not employ electricity.

Webster's 1913 Dictionary

Telephone Tel"e*phone, v. t. To convey or announce by telephone.

Collin's Cobuild Dictionary

(telephones, telephoning, telephoned) Frequency: The word is one of the 1500 most common words in English. 1. The telephone is the electrical system of communication that you use to talk directly to someone else in a different place. You use the telephone by dialling a number on a piece of equipment and speaking into it. They usually exchanged messages by telephone... I dread to think what our telephone bill is going to be... She was wanted on the telephone. = phone N-UNCOUNT 2. A telephone is the piece of equipment that you use when you talk to someone by telephone. He got up and answered the telephone... = phone N-COUNT 3. If you telephone someone, you dial their telephone number and speak to them by telephone. I felt so badly I had to telephone Owen to say I was sorry... They usually telephone first to see if she is at home. = call, ring, phone VERB: V n, V 4. If you are on the telephone, you are speaking to someone by telephone. Linda remained on the telephone to the police for three hours... PHRASE: v-link PHR, PHR after v

Foolish Dictionary

From Eng. tell, to talk, and Grk. phonos, murder. A machine in which talk is murdered.

Moby Thesaurus

blower, buzz, call, call box, call up, carbon telephone, coin telephone, desk telephone, dial, dial telephone, extension, give a ring, handset, hang up, hold the phone, horn, listen in, make a call, mouthpiece, pay station, phone, public telephone, push-button telephone, radiotelephone, receiver, ring, ring off, ring up, telephone booth, telephone engineering, telephone extension, telephone mechanics, telephone receiver, telephonics, telephony, transmitter, wall telephone, wireless telephone