Word.ws English Dictionary

phoning in

phoning in is the present participle and gerund of phone in.

Meaning of phone in

Verb

phone in (third-person singular simple present phones in, present participle phoning in, simple past and past participle phoned in)

  1. (ambitransitive) To deliver a message by telephone when etiquette demands the effort and respect conveyed by communication in person.
    • Please give us the courtesy of showing up instead of phoning in.
    Synonyms:
    call in
  2. (intransitive) To make a telephone call to a broadcasting station, especially to participate in a program being aired.
    • We've got Brian phoning in from Phoenix. Brian, you're on the air.
    Synonyms:
    call in
  3. (ambitransitive, figuratively, idiomatic) To fulfill a responsibility with a minimum effort rather than the appropriate level of effort.
    • phone it in
    Synonyms:
    mail it in
  4. (transitive) To make an unseemly, timid performance; to be restrained and timid when bold action is called for.

Questions about phoning in

What is phoning in the present participle and gerund of?
Phoning in is the present participle and gerund of phone in.

Words near phoning in in the dictionary

  1. phoniness
  2. phoninesses
  3. phoning
  4. phoning ahead
  5. phoning home
  6. phoning in
  7. phoning up
  8. phonings
  9. phonino
  10. phoninos
  11. phonk

Source and license

Adapted from Wiktionary: phoning in (page history and authors); phone in (page history and authors). 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.

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Cite this entry: “phoning in.” Word.ws, https://word.ws/phoning_in. Based on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.