phone

Plural: phones

Noun

• 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"
• (phonetics) an individual sound unit of speech without concern as to whether or not it is a phoneme of some language
• electro-acoustic transducer for converting electric signals into sounds; it is held over or inserted into the ear
  • "it was not the typing but the earphones that she disliked"
• A device for transmitting conversations and other sounds in real time across distances, now often a small portable unit also capable of running software etc.
• A person's telephone number (as a means of contact); digits.
• A speech segment that possesses distinct physical or perceptual properties, considered as a physical event without regard to its place in the phonology of a language.

Verb

Verb Forms: phoned, phoning, phones

• To make a telephone call to someone.
• get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone
• To call (someone) using a telephone.

Examples

• Daragh's on the phone at the moment. He'll call you when he's finished.
• Her father told her to phone him to pick her up in case it started raining heavily.
• His opponent asked if he could PHONE a friend for a word suggestion, but it’s against the rules.
• My phone ran out of battery.
• Phone me as soon as you land at the airport.
• There's an old-fashioned phone in the doctor's waiting room - it doesn't work anymore, of course.

Synonyms

call, call up, earphone, earpiece, headphone, ring, sound, speech sound, telephone, telephone set, Ameche, blower, dog and bone, horn, phone, phone up, pipe

Related Words

phoneme, phonetic, phonetically, phonetics, phonology

Anagrams of phone