Standard Lemma guide
Definitions and examples are grouped by meaning. Pronunciation, history, word forms, translations, descendants, synonyms, antonyms, derived terms, and related words appear whenever the source provides them.
Sound
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noun
A telephone company (historically); a telecommunications company, a telecom.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: informal
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
Narrower terms: cellco
noun
a public utility that provides telephone service
Definition source: Princeton WordNet 3.0
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: telephone company, telephone service, phone company, phone service
Antonyms: none provided
Broader terms: utility, public utility, public utility company, public-service corporation
History
Diachronically, from tel + Co., from the collocation of Tel. Co. as seen, for example, in Bell Tel. Co. or the names of countless local telephone exchange companies (e.g., Savannah Valley Tel. Co., Mutual Tel. Co., Tarrytown Tel. Co.), by abbreviation in the late 19th through mid-20th centuries; synchronically also a clipped compound as tel(ephone) + co(mpany).
Across languages
9 source translations are retained for this English entry.
