area code

noun

: a usually 3-digit number that identifies a particular telephone service area in a country (such as the U.S. or Canada)

Examples of area code in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Thomas is known for sharing his knowledge of Chicago’s history, such as how the Loop got the area code 312, on his Instagram and TikTok accounts. —Shanzeh Ahmad, Chicago Tribune, 22 Mar. 2025

Richard sprung Tattle for a breakaway – the nearest BU player was in a different area code – and Tattle slid the puck between the pads of Yegerov at 2:56. —Barry Scanlon, Boston Herald, 20 Mar. 2025

Now the Blue Devils can turn their attention to chasing their sixth national title as the top seed in the NCAA Tournament’s East Region, with their first stop coming within their own 919 area code. —Aaron Beard, Chicago Tribune, 17 Mar. 2025

One of those latter commercial successes was Firestone Walker’s 805 sub-brand, named after the local telephone area code. —Don Tse, Forbes, 1 Jan. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1941, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for area code

• afterload
• episode
• internode
• microcode
• multimode
• nematode
• nesselrode
• overflowed
• overload
• overrode
• radioed
• torpedoed

Kids Definition

area code

noun

: a usually three-digit number that represents each telephone service area in a country (as the U.S. or Canada)