landline

noun

land·​line ˈland-ˌlīn 

variants or less commonly land line

1

: a line of transportation or communication on land

especially : a telephone line that transmits signals from one station to another directly along a wire without the use of radio waves

It reminds me of the tipping point several years ago when people realized they no longer needed a telephone landline and would do just fine with their cell phones.

—Rana Foroohar

—often used before another noun

a landline phone

a landline network

2

: a telephone that connects by wire : a landline telephone

Of course, if you're really worried, you could ditch your cell phone for a quaint landline.

—Kiera Butler

Examples of landline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Following a group of preteens that form a baby-sitting business in their quiet suburb, the series is sweet and deeply relevant to the kids who are watching (even if the sitters still use a landline for the nostalgia). —Kelly Lawler, USA Today, 8 July 2025

On Wednesday, July 2, the journalist and TV personality, 60, shared a snap of her daughter Haley, 9, on Instagram using a landline phone. —Kayla Grant, People.com, 3 July 2025

Phone and internet service was disrupted, with landline phones unable to receive or dial international calls. —Natalie Melzer, Chicago Tribune, 17 June 2025

In the 1997 slasher sequel Scream 2, Gellar played Omega Beta Zeta sober sister Cici, who gets terrorized via landline and thrown off the terrace of her sorority house by Ghostface. —Glenn Garner, Deadline, 22 May 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for landline

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• byline
• canine

Kids Definition

landline

noun

land·​line -ˌ(d)līn 

: a line of communication (as by telephone) consisting of a cable laid on land