telephone

I

(New American Roget's College Thesaurus)

v. call [up], phone, dial, get through to. See communication.

II

(Roget's IV) n.

Syn. phone, private phone, extension phone, radiophone, radio telephone, car phone, cellular phone, pay phone, public telephone, speakerphone, conference phone, wireless telephone, cordless telephone, French phone, mouthpiece, line*, party line*, local line*, long distance*, the horn*, the blower* (British), extension*, booth phone*; see also communications , radio 2 .

v.

Syn. call, call up, phone, ring, ring up, make a call to, dial, call on the phone, put in a call to, phone up*, give a ring*, give a buzz*, buzz*.

III

(Roget's 3 Superthesaurus) n.

phone, *horn, line, extension phone, car phone, cellular phone, transmitter, receiver, rotary phone, touchtone phone.

WORD FIND

• alerting click signaling another call: call waiting

• automatic dialing: auto redial, speed dialing

• beeper: pager

• buzz: dial tone

• conference held with speakerphones, closed circuit television: teleconference

• connecting phone lines, apparatus for: switchboard

• digits of phone number, first three: prefix

• eavesdrop electronically on another’s phone line: tap

• hand instrument: handset

• line kept open and accessible without dialing: hot line

• long-distance service for companies: WATS (Wide Area Telecommunications Service)

• loudspeaker, phone with: speakerphone

• message system: voice mail

• number identification system: caller I.D.

• rest for handset: cradle

• room-to-room or interoffice communication device: intercom, PBX (Private Branch Exchange)

• science: telephonics, telephony

IV

(Roget's Thesaurus II) verb To communicate with (someone) by telephone: buzz, call, ring2. Informal: dial, phone. Idioms: get someone on the horn, give someone a buzz (or call or ring). See WORDS.