phone

"Phone" is a very common English word with a few related but distinct meanings. Most of the time you'll hear it used as a noun (the device) or a verb (the action of calling someone), but it also has a more technical use in linguistics.

1nouncommunication device

A phone is the device you use to talk to someone who is far away. Today, most people think of a smartphone — a small computer you carry in your pocket that also lets you make calls, send messages, browse the internet, and much more.

everyday language · Modern, widely used

She left her phone on the table and forgot to take it to school.

His phone rang loudly during the meeting, which was embarrassing.

I need to charge my phone — the battery is almost dead.

2verbto call someone

When you phone someone, you use a phone to call them and speak with them. It means the same as 'call' in this context. You might hear 'phone someone' or 'phone someone up'.

everyday language · Modern, widely used

I'll phone you when I arrive at the airport.

She phoned the doctor to make an appointment.

He forgot to phone his mother on her birthday.

3nouna single speech sound (linguistics)

In the study of language (linguistics), a 'phone' is any single sound that a human voice can make when speaking. Think of it as the smallest building block of spoken language. For example, the word 'cat' is made up of three phones: the sounds 'k', 'a', and 't'.

linguistics / academic · Formal, used in academic and scientific contexts

The linguist analyzed each phone in the word to understand how it is pronounced.

Different languages use different sets of phones to build their words.

The 'th' sound in English is a phone that does not exist in many other languages.