Main meanings of phone in English

: phone¹ phone²

phone¹

Pronunciation /fəʊn/

See synonyms for phone

Translate phone into Spanish

noun

1A telephone.
‘a few seconds later the phone rang’
- ‘a receptionist answered the phone’
- ‘a phone number’
- ‘A telling example: there are more cell phones than land-line phones in Mumbai today.’
- ‘It turns out that people who don't have mobiles or fixed landline phones use payphones more than any other group.’
- ‘The bandits also stole three cellular phones and two cordless phones, before escaping in a waiting vehicle.’
- ‘Do mobile phones use the same frequency and radiation as cordless phones?’
- ‘Meanwhile, officers at some stations found they could not get an outside line from landline phones.’
- ‘It took a century to transform from Alexander Bell's basic invention to wireless phones.’
- ‘MobiTV ads also would be able to leverage the interactive nature of wireless phones.’
- ‘Radio and satellite phones allow easy communication with the outside world.’
- ‘The ring-tones of European phones don't sound the same as American ones.’
- ‘When people bought their second and third phones, they'd worry more about price.’
- ‘Mr Lambert was sitting on the step outside and she gave him the phone to continue with the call.’
- ‘She hung up and I stared at my phone blankly for a second before dropping it on my bed.’
- ‘After only a few seconds she put the phone down and looked back up at the two teens.’
- ‘I chat to one guy on the phone whose voice is so husky and his chest sounds wheezy if he talks for long.’
- ‘Most of the time I just answer the phones and file papers and run small errands.’
- ‘The offices and users may have moved, but the phones were left in place and the rent continued to be paid out on them.’
- ‘Within seconds, the various camps hit the phones to decide on tactics.’
- ‘He jokes with him on the phone, finishes the call and continues at the point that he left off.’
- ‘He held the phone to his ear for a few seconds after she hung up, in a sudden shock.’
- ‘The work he had to do at home was done in ten seconds flat after hanging up the phone.’
telephone, mobile phone, mobile, cell phone, car phone, radiotelephone, cordless phone, videophone, extension
View synonyms
2phones informal Headphones or earphones.
- ‘I had a pair of SR-325i and must admit they were the most uncomfortable phones I have ever placed on my head.’
- ‘If you've got your eye on a nice pair of phones but their cord is too short for your listening setup, an extension cord designed for headphones can bridge the gap.’
- ‘On paper it sounds pretty boring, and through the phones it's not much better.’

verb

also phone up or phone someone up

1Contact someone by phone.
with object ‘he phoned her at work’
- ‘she phoned about twenty minutes ago’
- ‘She phoned me up and we pondered it for a few minutes, before realising the PC in question didn't have any speakers.’
- ‘Sloan, who organised the music, wrote a wish list of all her favourite bands in the world and then started phoning them up.’
- ‘I have people phoning me up with their concerns.’
- ‘I wasn't sure anything had happened until friends started phoning me up.’
- ‘People have been phoning me up and stopping me in the street and saying how sorry they are to hear about what has happened to us.’
- ‘Some people have phoned us up and have come in and made statements.’
- ‘They phoned us up today asking if we do get to do the show, would be want to play live or play to a backing tape and if we can we're going to play live.’
- ‘She phoned them up and demanded they redeliver.’
- ‘I phoned them up and challenged them on this and they admitted it.’
- ‘Feeling really tired, I phoned Lucy up to say that I couldn't make it today & I have spent most of the day lazing around, reading the paper mainly.’
- ‘A representative of the British Olympic Association actually phoned me up to ask if he was making a political statement.’
- ‘I got home from the hospital and they phoned me up immediately to say they were taking her to theatre, so I had to go straight back.’
- ‘Frank phoned me up after Silverstone last year and things started to firm up over the winter.’
- ‘He said: ‘A friend phoned me up and told me there was a possibility of floods.’’
- ‘My Egyptian friend had phoned me up and asked if I would like to go with her to see the Agricultural College where she studies, and meet her fellow students.’
- ‘At least I had the sense of calling in sick this morning and when my boss phoned me up to check on me he asked if I wanted tomorrow off as well, which I gladly agreed to.’
- ‘She phoned me up at home to ask if I could come in at 3.40!’
- ‘It takes a couple of seconds to phone a team doctor and check if you can take something.’
- ‘Then you come home and phone a friend to grumble about this speech you've got to make.’
- ‘The PFY dutifully phones and a ring sound emerges from the heart of the machine.’
telephone, call, call up, give someone a call, give someone a ring, ring, get someone on the phone, get on the phone to, get, reach, dial, make a call, place a call, make a call to, place a call to
View synonyms
1. 1.1phone it in informal Work or perform without much effort, interest, or enthusiasm.
  ‘I think of my playing as committed—I can't remember ever phoning it in at any performance’
  ‘Because Bill Barol and his beloved Blather Blog has returned after a months-long hiatus, including a few weeks there when he was obviously just sort of phoning it in, not that we don't all do that on occasion, of course.’
  ‘In fact, I think Jumbah is totally phoning it in.’
  ‘Well, I guess I'd be phoning it in too if I knew that after my scene wrapped I could go back to partying on my yacht with my movie star friends on Lake Como.’
  ‘Comfort can easily lead to complacency, and for a band rooted in punk's Riot Grrrl movement, there's no greater sin than phoning it in.’
  ‘Yeah, it's August, but someone's really phoning it in at the Guardian.’
  ‘On this collection Sarah Vaughan sounds like she's phoning it in - you can almost hear her yawning.’
  ‘I talked to a newsperson who said the U.S. military is just phoning it in.’
  ‘Other people see talent and virtuosity; I see a narcissist who's phoning it in.’
  ‘Bronson simply phones it in and collects his check, though probably having his wife Jill Ireland as co-producer was a nice inducement.’
  ‘Renée Zellweger's mannered neuroticism is becoming increasingly annoying and Catherine Zeta-Jones phones it in.’
  ‘Sure, the official first game of the season took place, but so did four preseason games and another contest where the Rangers phoned it in against their Oklahoma City affiliate.’
  ‘Jesse Ventura is brought up, but Dave says towards the end he phoned it in.’
  ‘He seems content to just phone it in, and why shouldn't he?’
  ‘Dangers never succumbs to the temptation to phone it in, and he never relegates himself to simply giving in and playing generic pop music.’
  ‘Without a muse-cum-taskmaster Timbaland is tempted to phone it in, as he does on Under Construction II, a sequel not worthy of the name.’
  ‘The theater district's Chimichurri Grill offers an Argentine menu that doesn't just phone it in.’
  ‘Anthony Edwards and Gary Sinise both phone it in, and Dominic West has little trouble playing the drunk.’
  ‘So as they say in showbiz speech, he's phoning it in tonight.’
  ‘I can question his choice of material (as I often do), but I certainly can't complain that he's phoning it in.’
  ‘The band still makes some great songs; when the group misses, it's by trying to do too much, not by phoning it in Stones-like.’

Phrases

on the phone

Engaged in a conversation over the phone.
‘we were on the phone for 45 minutes’
- ‘I've been on the phone all morning.’
- ‘I was on the phone at the time.’
- ‘I was on the phone constantly as we were travelling to pick players up.’
- ‘Gary was on the phone talking to Belinda.’
- ‘When we showed people how much energy they were losing, they usually were on the phone to a contractor before we could get out the door.’
- ‘He was on the phone with Dr. Stephens for many hours trying to find out what could be done for her.’

Origin

Late 19th century abbreviation of telephone.

Main meanings of phone in English

: phone¹ phone²

phone²

Pronunciation /fəʊn/

See synonyms for phone

Translate phone into Spanish

noun

Phonetics

A speech sound; the smallest discrete segment of sound in a stream of speech.
‘It has been shown that enlarging the phone set and using more alternative symbols to represent partial variations and attempting to use more refined acoustic models trained from accurate surface form transcriptions are of little benefit.’
- ‘The justification was that phone boundaries are much more dynamic than stable, interior parts of phones.’