ringtone

noun

1. The sound made by a telephone when ringing.

   “voltage generator ringtone for installation in terminal stations of telephone communication systems for carrier wave”

   “The transducers used to measure cavity dynamic pressure and reed dynamic displacement are calibrated before each test, the ringtone oscillator assembly produces a sinusoidal driving pressure, with at most, a few small harmonics.”

   “Introduces LT1684, a ringtone-generator integrated circuit (IC) for telephone systems from Linear Technology in California. Elimination of need for optoisolators; Function of active multipole filter within the IC; Adjustment of cadence, frequency and amplitude information;”

   “The source and destination nodes may be equipped with ringtone-generation engines to generate ringtones. Each of the ringtones includes at least one audible tone.”

2. A customizable tone used to indicate an incoming call on a telephone, especially a mobile phone.

   “I set my favorite song as my ringtone.”

   “So even if the primary purpose of a ringtone is to notify the user of an incoming call, the effect of a ringtone played in public cannot be ignored if the reason users choose ringtones is, in part, in order to impress others .”

   “This actually downloads the ringtone onto your handheld and displays a screen allowing you to save it, shown in Figure 8.12.”

   “There's only music so that there's new ringtones”

   “Using simple audio tools in the iTunes program, you could buy a song for $1, choose a 30-second chunk, pay $1 more for the ringtone, and sync the result to your iPhone.”

verb

1. (ambitransitive)Of a telephone: to play a ringtone.

   “My handheld ringtoned “Happy Days are Here Again.” I withdrew into a quieter corner of Mahogany Bar and stuck a finger in my other ear.”

   “The cell reception is less than zero here, but my phone was ringtoning away. I did not like the sound of that.”