- phone
- {{Roman}}I.{{/Roman}} noun ⇨ See also ↑telephoneADJECTIVE▪ cell (usually cellphone) (esp. AmE), cellular (esp. AmE), mobile (BrE)▪ pay (usually payphone), public▪
There's a public payphone in reception.
▪ office▪ home, private▪I called his cellphone and then his home phone.
▪ landline▪ car▪ cordless▪ hands-free, speaker (usually speakerphone)▪I switched over to speakerphone.
▪ digital▪ satellite▪ camera▪ clamshell (BrE), flip (AmE)▪ 3G (BrE), Bluetooth™, smart (usually smartphone), VoIP (= Voice over Internet Protocol), WAP, Web-enabled, wireless (esp. AmE), etc.VERB + PHONE▪ be on▪She's on the phone at the moment.
▪ use▪Can I use your phone?
▪ call (sb on)▪I called his cellphone but no one answered.
▪He called me on my mobile phone.
▪ answer, get (informal), grab (informal), lift, pick up▪If the phone rings, don't answer it.
▪Can you get the phone?
▪I grabbed the phone and called Josie's number.
▪ hang up, put down, replace▪I hung up the phone when he started shouting at me.
▪ slam down▪She slammed the phone down in a rage.
▪ cradle, hold▪She cradled the phone between her ear and shoulder.
▪a £30 fine if caught holding a phone while driving
▪ be wanted on▪Dad, you're wanted on the phone.
▪ call sb to▪He was called to the phone just as he was leaving.
▪ connect▪ disconnect, unplug▪ bug, tap▪I think our phone is being tapped.
▪ wait by▪She waits by the phone all day but he doesn't call.
▪ leave off the hook, take off the hook▪I couldn't get through because you'd left the phone off the hook.
▪ switch off, switch on, turn off, turn on▪Please switch off all mobile phones.
▪I turned on my phone.
PHONE + VERB▪ go (esp. BrE), go off, ring, vibrate▪My mobile phone went off during the movie.
▪Vincent's cell phone vibrated in his pocket.
▪ ring off the hook▪The phone was ringing off the hook (= ringing continuously).
▪ be busy (esp. AmE), be engaged (BrE)▪The phone was busy when I called.
▪His phone is almost permanently engaged.
▪ be off the hook▪ go dead▪The phone suddenly went dead in the middle of our conversation.
PHONE + NOUN▪ number▪ book, directory▪ bill▪ call, conversation, interview, message▪ user▪ operator▪ card (usually phonecard)▪ company, network, service▪ bank (esp. AmE)▪She was working a phone bank for the Democrats.
▪ booth, box (BrE)▪ line▪The modem links the computer to a phone line.
▪ keypad▪ handset, receiver▪the modern business of selling phone handsets
▪I picked up the phone receiver and pressed it to my ear.
▪ cord▪ charger▪I've lost my phone charger.
▪ records▪The search of the phone records yielded nothing.
PREPOSITION▪ by phone▪We keep in contact by phone but we rarely see each other.
▪ on the phone▪We spoke on the phone the other day.
▪ over the phone▪{{Roman}}II.{{/Roman}}I haven't seen her but we spoke over the phone.
verbPhone is used with these nouns as the subject: ↑viewer
Collocations dictionary. 2013.
