noun
- ☆ 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
- any device having a transmitter, receiver, and dialing mechanism, used in a telephone system
Origin:
tele- + -phone: term adopted by Alexander Graham Bell (1876) after use for other sound instruments
intransitive verb telephoned, telephoning
- to talk over a telephone; convey a message by telephone
- to try to make a connection by dialing a telephone number