phone

verb

Definition of phonenext
as in to dial
to make a telephone call to she phoned her friend to invite her over for dinner

Synonyms & Similar Words

Relevance

Example Sentences

Examples are automatically compiled from online sources to show current usage. Read More Opinions expressed in the examples do not represent those of Merriam-Webster or its editors. Send us feedback.
Recent Examples of phone Trump phoned Infantino directly during this year’s World Cup, hosted in the United States, to request a red card suspension against American player Folarin Balogun be overturned. — Timothy Nerozzi, The Washington Examiner, 3 Aug. 2026 Affleck and Ding then used another lifeline to phone a friend, which was Ding’s longtime trivia partner Stephen Morrison. — Ethan Shanfeld, Variety, 30 July 2026 They were reportedly tried in three virtual court sessions, each of which took about an hour and in which the accused phoned in from prison rather than appearing before the judge. — Arash Azizi, The Atlantic, 30 July 2026 Ding and Affleck then decided to phone one of Ding’s friends just in case. — Hilary Lewis, HollywoodReporter, 30 July 2026 See All Example Sentences for phone
Recent Examples of Synonyms for phone
  1. dial
  2. call
  3. telephone
Verb
  • Purdy is dialed in One of Purdy’s first throws of 11-on-11 drills on Thursday was a deep touchdown to reserve receiver Malik Turner down the left sideline hitting him in stride beyond the chasing defensive back.
    — Chris Biderman, Sacbee.com, 10 Aug. 2026
  • Working again with Cody on keys and Davies on guitar, Carpenter seems to have dialed in a post-film career in music.
    — David Harris, SPIN, 10 Aug. 2026
Definition of dial
Verb
  • The ice cream, called tanada aisu, is made with rice from the terraces, oat milk, coconut milk, cane sugar and rice syrup, with no eggs or dairy.
    — Christopher Elliott, Forbes.com, 16 Aug. 2026
  • Initially called a foul ball, replay review showed that the ball scraped the outside of the foul pole.
    — ABC News, ABC News, 16 Aug. 2026
Definition of call
Verb
  • So Parker telephoned the base posing as the doctor of Adams’ supposedly ailing mother and talked the young soldier’s superiors into issuing an emergency furlough.
    — Dan Kelly July 28, Kansas City Star, 28 July 2026
  • The average taxpayer who telephoned the IRS during tax season this year spent 14 minutes on hold, the advocate reports.
    — Daniel de Visé, USA Today, 27 June 2026
Definition of telephone

Browse Nearby Words

phobic
phone
phoned
See all Nearby Words

Cite this Entry

“Phone.” Merriam-Webster.com Thesaurus, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/thesaurus/phone. Accessed 17 Aug. 2026.

Copy Citation

More from Merriam-Webster on phone

Nglish: Translation of phone for Spanish Speakers

Last Updated: - Updated example sentences
Love words? Need even more definitions?

Subscribe to America's largest dictionary and get thousands more definitions and advanced search—ad free!

Popular in Grammar & Usage

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

7 Pairs of Commonly Confused Words

'A' or 'an'? What about before 'h'? An Indefinite Article Guide

Do you 'say your piece' or 'say your peace'?

Why is '-ed' sometimes pronounced at the end of a word?
See More

Popular in Wordplay

See More

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List

It's a Scorcher! Words for the Summer Heat

Is “GIF” Pronounced “Jiff” or “Giff”?

12 Lovely and Unusual Words for the Natural World
See More

Popular

See More

A Who’s Who Regarding ‘Who’s’ and ‘Whose’

Words from the 'Odyssey'

The Longest Long Words List
See More

Games & Quizzes

See All
Play Quordle: Guess all four words in a limited number of tries. Each of your guesses must be a real 5-letter word.
Quordle Can you solve 4 words at once?
Play Blossom: Solve today's spelling word game by finding as many words as you can using just 7 letters. Longer words score more points.
Blossom Pick the best words!
Play Missing Letter: a crossword with a twist. Each of the 25 puzzle words start with a different letter of the alphabet. Which letter is missing?
The Missing Letter A daily crossword with a twist
image of a green cube out of place in a lineup of red spheres
Odd Word Out: Synonyms Vol. 2 Quiz Figure out which word isn't like the others.
See All