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

My roommate had spent all day in our dark apartment, watching the news and manning our landline as our friends and relatives called and checked in, including my little brother, a student at NYU whose dorm was near the World Trade Center. —Kate Belli, PEOPLE, 18 Oct. 2025

Haidt became a role model for parents installing landlines in their homes and Gen Z luddites using flip phones. —Rachel Hale, USA Today, 16 Oct. 2025

She also is not allowed to have a cell phone, but her room has a landline that only makes outgoing calls. —Janelle Ash, FOXNews.com, 12 Oct. 2025

No one has landlines anymore but even those weren’t working. —Hilary Whiteman, CNN Money, 3 Oct. 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