noun

1. ☆ a system for transmitting speech or computerized information over distances, usually by converting sounds into electric impulses that are sent through a network of wires and cables: some systems transmit by means of radio waves
2. any device having a transmitter, receiver, and dialing mechanism, used in a telephone system

Etymology: tele- + -phone: term adopted by Alexander Graham Bell (1876) after use for other sound instruments

intransitive verb telephoned -·phoned′, telephoning -·phon′·ing

1. to talk over a telephone; convey a message by telephone
2. to try to make a connection by dialing a telephone number

transitive verb

1. to convey (a message) by telephone
2. to speak to or reach (a person) by telephone; call