phone
/ˈfəʊ̯n//ˈfoʊ̯n/
phone noun: 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.
Noun (1)
phone (plural phones)
- 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.
- Daragh's on the phone at the moment. He'll call you when he's finished.
- My phone ran out of battery.
- A person's telephone number (as a means of contact); digits.
- It was a clear black night, a clear white moon / Warren G was on the streets tryin' to consume / Some skirts for the eve so I can get some phones / Rollin' in my ride, chillin' all alone1994, Warren G feat. Nate Dogg Regulate (song)
Verb
phone (third-person singular simple present phones, present participle phoning, simple past and past participle phoned)
- To call (someone) using a telephone.
- Phone me as soon as you land at the airport.
- Her father told her to phone him to pick her up in case it started raining heavily.
- To say via telephone.
- Well, the first I knew, Mr. Cooney phoned he had a buyer for my farm, and wanted to know if he could come down.1905, Patrick Woodard, quotee, “Woodard vs. Cooney”, in The South Western Reporter, volume 85
- After I wrote the 23ⁿᵈ bout midnite Charles phoned he got my note + could I come over then?1973 November 23, Lou Sullivan, Diary
Noun (2)
phone (plural phones)
- 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.
phone meaning in Hindi, Tamil, Marathi and Urdu
phone in Hindi
- to call (someone) on the telephone
- फ़ोन करना fon karnā
phone in Tamil
- to call (someone) on the telephone
- ஃபோன் பண்ணு fōṉ paṇṇu
phone in Marathi
- फोन
phone in Urdu
- to call (someone) on the telephone
- فون کرنا fon karnā, ملانا milānā
- speech segment
- صوت saut
More languagesFewer languages
- phone in Bengali
- ফোন করা phōn kora
- phone in Telugu
- ఫోన్
- phone in Malayalam
- ഫോൺ phōṇ, വർണ്ണം vaṟṇṇaṁ
- phone in Kannada
- ಗೆಂಟುಮಾತು, ದೂರವಾಣಿ, ಟೆಲಿಫೋನ್, ಉಲಿ
- phone in Punjabi
- ਫ਼ੋਨ, ਫੋਨ
- phone in Gujarati
- ફોન phŏn
- phone in Odia
- ଫୋନ phon
- phone in Sanskrit
- दूरवाणी dūravāṇī, दूरवाणीं करोति dūravāṇīṃ karoti
- phone in Nepali
- फोन
- phone in Tagalog
- tumawag, tawagan, tumelepono
- phone in Arabic
- تَلْفَنَ talfana
- phone in Indonesian
- telepon, fon
- phone in Persian
- تیلفون کردن têlifôn kardan, تیلفون زدن têlifôn zadan, زنگ زدن zang zadan, دورواژیدن durvâžidan
- phone in Thai
- โทร too, โทรศัพท์ too-rá-sàp
- phone in Vietnamese
- gọi điện thoại, gọi điện, kêu điện thoại, điện thoại
- phone in Myanmar
- ဖုန်းဆက် hpun:hcak
- Sindhi
- ڏُور وائڻُ Ddoor Vaainn
Examples of phone in a sentence
- There's an old-fashioned phone in the doctor's waiting room - it doesn't work anymore, of course.
- "You bloody fools!" shrieked Nickle, stung by a sudden dreadful inspiration, "we've let him phone.1934, Ernest Bramah, The Bravo of London:
- I think he only phoned because he knew how excited I’d be to hear about it.2010, Tyler Keevil, chapter 32, in Fireball, Cardigan, Ceredigion: Parthian, →ISBN, page 148:
Synonyms of phone
Forms of phone
| Noun | |
|---|---|
| plural | phones |
| alternative form (dated) | 'phone |
| Verb | |
| third-person singular present | phones |
| present participle | phoning |
| past participle | phoned |
| past | phoned |
Origin of phone
Clipping of telephone; first attested in 1884.
From Ancient Greek φωνή (phōnḗ, “sound”).
Words formed from phone
- phone ahead
- phone home
- phone in
- phone up
- unphoned
- phonal
- airphone
- answer phone
- bag phone
- banana phone
- bar phone
- basic phone
- batphone
- bat phone
- bat-phone
- brick phone
- burner phone
- burn phone
- buzzer phone
- cameraphone
- camera phone
- camphone
- candlestick phone
- candy bar phone
- can I use your phone
- cardphone
- carphone
- car phone
- car-phone
- cell-phone
- cell phone lot
- cellular phone
- computerphone
- cordless phone
- courtesy phone
- cryptophone
- dataphone
- deskphone
- diaphone
- diphone
- door phone
- doorphone
- dumbphone
- earphone
- entryphone
- entry-phone
- entry phone
- eyephone
- feature phone
- featurephone
- flip-phone
- freephone
- Googlephone
- handphone
- have more chins than a Chinese phone book
- headphone
- hold the phone
- home phone
- housephone
- house phone
Phrases with phone
- pay phone
- phone box
- phone sex
- phone tag
- card phone
- cell phone
- dumb phone
- flip phone
- phone bank
- phone book
- phone call
- phone card
68 more phrasesFewer phrases
- phone case
- phone jack
- phone jail
- phone line
- phone tree
- trap phone
- wind phone
- Jesus phone
- money phone
- Obama Phone
- phone banks
- phone books
- phone booth
- phone boxes
- phone calls
- phone cards
- phone cases
- phone jacks
- phone jails
- phone lines
- phone trees
- slide phone
- smart phone
- stick phone
- touch phone
- world phone
- mobile phone
- on the phone
- phone booths
- phone monkey
- phone number
- phone survey
- phone zombie
- rotary phone
- slider phone
- swivel phone
- phone hacking
- phone monkeys
- phone numbers
- phone surveys
- phone zombies
- held the phone
- pass the phone
- portable phone
- wireless phone
- cell phone lots
- clamshell phone
- holds the phone
- satellite phone
- passed the phone
- passes the phone
- holding the phone
- passing the phone
- pick up the phone
- picks up the phone
- keys, wallet, phone
- picked up the phone
- wallet, keys, phone
- picking up the phone
- what's your phone number
- what is your phone number
- had more chins than a Chinese phone book
- has more chins than a Chinese phone book
- having more chins than a Chinese phone book
- had got more chins than a Chinese phone book
- has got more chins than a Chinese phone book
- have got more chins than a Chinese phone book
- having got more chins than a Chinese phone book
Words that rhyme with phone
48 more rhymesFewer rhymes
- moan
- throne
- atone
- clone
- crone
- prone
- depone
- hone
- loan
- cologne
- condone
- disenthrone
- disown
- eau de cologne
- enthrone
- groan
- intone
- roan
- Sloan
- Sloane
- thrown
- unknown
- bemoan
- cobblestone
- Copplestone
- grown
- joan
- known
- none
- overgrown
- pension
- postpone
- redstone
- sone
- Stallone
- answer phone
- arthron
- beknown
- cauterizing stone
- compone
- crosne
- crown
- cuboidal bone
- cuttlefish bone
- Ediphone
- enzone
- flown
- Four Shire Stone
Questions about phone
- What does phone mean?
- Phone means 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.
- What is phone in Hindi?
- Phone in Hindi is फ़ोन करना (fon karnā). See Phone meaning in Hindi.
- How do you use phone in a sentence?
- There's an old-fashioned phone in the doctor's waiting room - it doesn't work anymore, of course.
- What part of speech is phone?
- Phone can be a noun or a verb.
- How do you pronounce phone?
- Phone is pronounced /ˈfəʊ̯n/ (UK).
- What is the plural of phone?
- The plural of phone is phones.
Words near phone in the dictionary
Source and license
Adapted from Wiktionary: phone (page history and authors); phone (Marathi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); phone (Telugu, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ഫോൺ (Malayalam) (page history and authors); phone (Kannada Wiktionary) (page history and authors); phone (Punjabi, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license); ફોન (Gujarati) (page history and authors); ଫୋନ (Odia) (page history and authors); phone (Nepali, IndicTrans2 machine translation) (model and license). Text available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 license. Word.ws reformatted the entry and added links. Wiktionary data of 2026-09-02.
Last updated:
Pronunciation audio from Wikimedia Commons, each file under its own free license: en-uk-phone.ogg, en-us-phone.ogg.
Cite this entry: “phone.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phone. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.