Phrase 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
Each Play button uses your device's default local English voice, or a natural local fallback. The selected voice name appears after playback. This is synthesized speech, not a source recording.
No pronunciation record was provided for this word.
noun
The telephone.
Definition source: English Wiktionary via Wiktextract
Usage: humorous
Qualifier: preceded by definite article
No example sentence was provided for this meaning.
Synonyms: none provided
Antonyms: none provided
History
A Hobson-Jobson based on interpreting telephone as telling + bone; coined by British screenwriter Richard Carpenter for the TV series Catweazle.
