telephone

noun

1. (countable)A telecommunication device which converts data or sounds (usually speech) into electrical signals which are then transmitted to enable two or more people to communicate with each other over a distance; now usually a device having a dial or keypad with numerals for entering a number, etc., to connect with a person, and means (such as a sound or vibration) for alerting one to an incoming call or transmission; also, the handset or receiver of such a device.
2. (abbreviation, alt-of, archaic, countable)Short for telephone call (“a connection established over a telephone network; a conversation held by the parties on this connection”).
3. (countable, figuratively)A means of communicating information from one person to another or others.

   “In the terminology associated with this phenomenon, Jach Pursel is known as a "channel"—a vehicle through which "entities" from other planes of existence choose to address human beings. In a more familiar metaphor, Jach is the telephone through which Lazaris places his long distance calls: very long distance calls.”

4. (countable, historical, uncountable)Now chiefly preceded by a descriptive word: a simple communication device which converts sounds (usually speech) into mechanical vibrations along a string, wire, etc.

   “string telephone    tin can telephone”

   “The days are behind us (I recall) when children played with makeshift telephones made from jam tins connected by string; […]”

5. (archaic, countable, historical, uncountable)A type of foghorn used for sending signals in the form of loud tones or musical notes, especially one invented in the 19th century by John Taylor, a captain in the British Royal Navy.

   “It is not easy to say from these passages (which are all we could find on the subject) what plan [Edward] Davy had in contemplation. In the first quotation he speaks of bells, for which we may read a powerful trumpet at one end, and a concave reflector to focus the sound at the other end; or some arrangement like the compressed-air telephone, proposed by Captain Taylor, R.N., in 1844; […]”

6. (archaic, countable, historical, uncountable)A communication device consisting of two aligned gutta-percha speaking tubes connected to parabolic reflectors which allows speech spoken into one tube to be sent through the air to the other one, invented in the 19th century by the British engineer Francis Whishaw (1804–1856); also, a speaking tube of such a device.
7. (archaic, countable, historical, uncountable)A system of communication using musical notes, also known as Solresol, invented in 1828 by the French composer Jean-François Sudre (1787–1862).
8. (Canada, US, uncountable)Synonym of Chinese whispers (“a game for several players in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred, to humorous effect by the time it reaches the last person and is compared with the original phrase; (figurative) a situation where something is changed or misunderstood as a result of passing through successive people or processes”).

   “And since the spring of 1995, no game of telephone has ended without some Simpsons-loving smart-ass dropping "purple monkey dishwasher" into the chain.”

verb

1. (transitive)To convey (information, a message, news, etc.) using a telephone (noun sense 1).

   “David telephoned his apologies to his mother. On the way we had had our first puncture, and had taken some time to change the wheel, as we were unable to find the jack.”

   “He telephoned what he knew to his chief, the information such as to cause the smug complacency of that gentlemen in his henchman's prowess to vanish from his expression, […]”

2. (transitive)To (attempt to) contact (someone) using a telephone.

   “The length ganger saw the train passing with the van derailed and promptly telephoned the Sandbach signalman, who restored his signals to danger, but not in time to stop the train before the final derailment occurred.”

3. (obsolete, transitive)To provide (a place) with a telephone system.

   “The London County Council prepared careful estimates for telephoning London in 1898, and those estimates were submitted to Parliament. It contended that it could provide a telephone service for the County Council area of London at £38 per subscriber capital outlay, after setting aside the necessary funds for the debt charge and after paying the Post Office the 10 per cent. royalty.”

4. (obsolete, transitive)To transmit (sounds) over a distance.

   “Do you hear the chemical accents of the sun? / Do you telephone the roar of the waters over the earth?”

5. (intransitive)To (attempt to) contact someone using a telephone; to make a telephone call.

   “I came down like a wolf on the fold, didn't I? Why didn't I telephone? Strategy, my dear boy, strategy. This is a surprise attack, and I'd no wish that the garrison, forewarned, should escape.”

   “Having completed their task, Fireman Page telephoned from a lineside box to the next signal cabin, briefly reported the incident and said that, as no high explosive had dropped and the track was safe, they proposed proceeding "at caution".”

   “The only chance we had was to telephone to the manager of the hotel in Calgary to send two bottles of Scotch without fail by the next train leaving Calgary for the west.”