earpiece

noun

ear·​piece ˈir-ˌpēs 

1

: the part of an instrument (such as a telephone, stethoscope, or hearing aid) that is placed against or inserted into the outer opening of the ear

especially : earphone

2

: one of the two sidepieces that support eyeglasses by passing over or behind the ears

Examples of earpiece in a Sentence

the earpiece of a stethoscope

Recent Examples on the Web

These include a smaller case, the removal of the hardware pairing button, a discreet status light, and a new shorter stem for the earpiece. —Ewan Spence, Forbes.com, 29 Aug. 2025

The researchers' work showed how a commercially available mmWave radar sensor can be used to pick up the practically imperceptible vibrations of a phone's earpiece, and the resulting vibrations of the phone itself, from a few feet away. —Abhimanyu Ghoshal, New Atlas, 22 Aug. 2025

The team used a millimeter-wave radar sensor, the same technology employed in self-driving cars, motion detectors, and 5G wireless networks, to measure the tiny surface vibrations generated by speech played through a phone earpiece. —Neetika Walter, Interesting Engineering, 11 Aug. 2025

For media playback, the Nothing Phone (3) produces stereo sound from its earpiece and down-firing speaker combined. —PC Magazine, 5 Aug. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1824, in the meaning defined at sense 2

Kids Definition

earpiece

noun

ear·​piece -ˌpēs 

: a part of an instrument (as a telephone) that is placed against or in the ear

especially : earphone

Medical Definition

earpiece

noun

ear·​piece ˈi(ə)r-ˌpēs 

1

: a part of an instrument (as a stethoscope or hearing aid) that is inserted into the outer opening of the ear

2

: one of the two sidepieces that support eyeglasses by passing over or behind the ears