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telephone

A telephone is an electronic device that you use for conversations over great distances. Telephones used to be fixed to walls and connected by cables, but now most people have cellular telephones, known as cell phones or mobiles.

A telephone takes sound waves, converts it into electronic signals, and then converts that back into sound waves — pretty neat. Early telephones frightened people because it seemed spooky that someone not in the room (or even the country) could speak to you, but nowadays distant communication seems perfectly normal. If your mother asks you to telephone her, she wants you to give her a call. The word comes from the Greek words for "afar" (tele-) and "voice"(phone).

DEFINITIONS OF: telephone

n 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”

Synonyms:: phone, telephone set

Types:: show 8 types...; hide 8 types...; desk phone
a telephone set that sits on a desk or table; dial phone, dial telephone
a telephone with a dial for registering the number to be called; extension, extension phone, telephone extension
an additional telephone set that is connected to the same telephone line; French telephone, handset
telephone set with the mouthpiece and earpiece mounted on a single handle; pay-phone, pay-station
a coin-operated telephone; radiophone, radiotelephone, wireless telephone
a telephone that communicates by radio waves rather than along cables; speakerphone
a telephone with a microphone and loudspeaker; can be used without picking up a handset; several people can participate in a call at the same time; cell, cellphone, cellular phone, cellular telephone, mobile phone
a hand-held mobile radiotelephone for use in an area divided into small sections, each with its own short-range transmitter/receiver

Type of:: electronic equipment
equipment that involves the controlled conduction of electrons (especially in a gas or vacuum or semiconductor)

n transmitting speech at a distance

Synonyms:: telephony

Types:: show 12 types...; hide 12 types...; voice mail, voicemail
a computerized system for answering and routing telephone calls; telephone messages can be recorded and stored and relayed; call, phone call, telephone call
a telephone connection; call forwarding
lets you transfer your incoming calls to any telephone that you can dial direct; call waiting
a way of letting you know that someone else is calling when you are using your telephone; call-back
a return call; collect call
a telephone call that the receiving party is asked to pay for; call-in
a telephone call to a radio station or a television station in which the caller participates in the on-going program; crank call
a hostile telephone call (from a crank); local call
a telephone call made within a local calling area; long distance, long-distance call, trunk call
a telephone call made outside the local calling area; conference call
a telephone call in which more than two people participate; wake-up call
a telephone call that you request be made a specific time in order to wake you up at that time (especially in hotels)

Type of:: telecom, telecommunication
(often plural) systems used in transmitting messages over a distance electronically

v get or try to get into communication (with someone) by telephone

Synonyms:: call, call up, phone, ring

: call
send a message or attempt to reach someone by radio, phone, etc.; make a signal to in order to transmit a message

Types:: cell phone
call up by using a cellular phone; call in
make a phone call

Type of:: telecommunicate
communicate over long distances, as via the telephone or e-mail

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