HOW TO PRONOUNCE
telephone
/ˈtɛləˌfoʊn/
Press play to hear how to pronounce telephone.
American Pronunciation Guide · 0:47
Watch on YouTube ↗
Watch on YouTube ↗
What does telephone mean?
noun
- A telecommunication device which converts data or sounds (usually speech) into electrical signals which are then transmitted to enable two or more people to communicate with each other over a distance; now usually a device having a dial or keypad with numerals for entering a number, etc., to connect with a person, and means (such as a sound or vibration) for alerting one to an incoming call or transmission; also, the handset or receiver of such a device.
- (figuratively) A means of communicating information from one person to another or others.
- Synonym of Chinese whispers (“a game for several players in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred, to humorous effect by the time it reaches the last person and is compared with the original phrase; (figurative) a situation where something is changed or misunderstood as a result of passing through successive people or processes”).
More meanings (10)
verb
- To convey (information, a message, news, etc.) using a telephone (noun sense 1).
- To (attempt to) contact (someone) using a telephone.
- To (attempt to) contact someone using a telephone; to make a telephone call.
- (obsolete) To provide (a place) with a telephone system.
- (obsolete) To transmit (sounds) over a distance.
noun
- (archaic) Short for telephone call (“a connection established over a telephone network; a conversation held by the parties on this connection”).
- (historical) Now chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: a simple communication device which converts sounds (usually speech) into mechanical vibrations along a string, wire, etc.
- (archaic, historical) A type of foghorn used for sending signals in the form of loud tones or musical notes, especially one invented in the 19th century by John Taylor, a captain in the British Royal Navy.
- (archaic, historical) A communication device consisting of two aligned gutta-percha speaking tubes connected to parabolic reflectors which allows speech spoken into one tube to be sent through the air to the other one, invented in the 19th century by the British engineer Francis Whishaw (1804–1856); also, a speaking tube of such a device.
- (archaic, historical) A system of communication using musical notes, also known as Solresol, invented in 1828 by the French composer Jean-François Sudre (1787–1862).
Definitions regrouped for readability · CC BY-SA 4.0
IPA pronunciation
/ˈtɛləˌfoʊn/
Wiktionary contributors · CC BY-SA 4.0 ↗Pronunciation varies by speaker and region. About these dictionary pronunciations.
In the pages of books
See this word in context.
Soon afterwards, Holmes took his telephones out of the banks, and started a real telephone business among the express companies of Boston.
These were absorbed in enterprises already existing, and were the means of assisting their rapid growth and expansion, particularly the telephone industry.
More book examples (3)
This property is the basis of the mechanical or lover's telephone, said to have been known to the Chinese many centuries ago.
Another place where science and inhuman humanity do not blend is in the angry moving up and down of the telephone hook.
Nothing would satisfy those two men but to go to the telephone at ten o'clock and rouse a poor carpenter from his sleep.