- short for telephone
WordReference Random House Learner's Dictionary of American English © 2025
phone1 /foʊn/USA pronunciation
n., v., phoned, phon•ing.
n. [countable]
v.
WordReference Random House Unabridged Dictionary of American English © 2025n. [countable]
- Telecommunicationsa telephone.
v.
- to use a telephone to call (someone): [~ + object]I tried phoning you last night, but no one was there.[no object]Look, just phone if you need us, OK?
phone1
(fōn),USA pronunciation n., v.t., v.i., phoned, phon•ing.
phone2 (fōn),USA pronunciation n. [Phonet.]
pho′nal, adj.
-phone,
- Telecommunicationstelephone.
- by shortening 1880–85
phone2 (fōn),USA pronunciation n. [Phonet.]
- a speech sound:There are three phonetically different "t'' phones in an utterance of "titillate,'' and two in an utterance of "tattletale.''Cf. allophone, phoneme.
- Greek phōné̄ voice
- 1865–70
-phone,
- a combining form meaning "speech sound'' (homophone), "an instrument of sound transmission or reproduction'' (telephone), "a musical instrument'' (saxophone;
xylophone).
- see phone2
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
a single uncomplicated speech sound
Collins Concise English Dictionary © HarperCollins Publishers::
- (forming nouns)
indicating voice, sound, or a device giving off sound: microphone, telephone - (forming nouns and adjectives)
(a person) speaking a particular language: Francophone