video doorbell

noun

plural video doorbells

: a small security camera that is designed for use on an exterior door, that includes or connects to a doorbell, and that often has a microphone and speaker : doorbell camera

Video doorbells are security cameras that are built into a doorbell.

—Consumer Reports

A video doorbell, sometimes called a doorbell camera, is an outdoor camera placed on someone's front door, either battery-powered or hardwired into an existing doorbell and chime setup. The user gets notified via a mobile app either when someone pushes the doorbell, or when the camera detects motion or a person, depending on its artificial intelligence capabilities.

—Aliza Vigderman and Gabe Turner

Examples of video doorbell in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Many of these smart locks are also available in bundles with matching door levers, door handles, and even video doorbells, giving homeowners a complete front-door upgrade in one package. —William Jones, USA Today, 21 Nov. 2025

Choosing and Installing a Doorbell For the main entrance to your home, video doorbells are the ideal way to keep an eye on your family’s comings and goings, any package deliveries, and visitors, both welcome and unwelcome. —Simon Hill, Wired News, 28 Oct. 2025

Strufe adds that while intelligence agencies or cybercriminals have simpler ways to monitor people – such as accessing CCTV cameras or video doorbells – the widespread presence of wireless networks could eventually form a near-comprehensive surveillance infrastructure. —Bojan Stojkovski, Interesting Engineering, 11 Oct. 2025

These improvements include everything from smart thermostats to video doorbells. —Kristine Gill, Better Homes & Gardens, 25 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1980, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for video doorbell

• mademoiselle
• materiel
• subparallel
• antiparallel
• antipersonnel
• bagatelle
• caravel
• carousel
• carrousel
• citadel
• clientele
• commonweal