headphone

noun

head·​phone ˈhed-ˌfōn 

plural headphones

: an earphone held over the ear by a band worn on the head

—usually plural

So for the gamer to gain that "edge," he must have the best mouse, the smoothest mouse pad or the most sensitive headphones.

—Chris Yong

Strapping on cushy headphones the size of loaves of bread, I'd repeatedly listen to Mingus' "Goodbye Pork Pie Hat" and the music of artists such as Jelly Roll Morton and Billie Holiday.

—Robert Wilder

also : a small earphone inserted into the ear : earbud

in-ear headphones

Examples of headphone in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Meanwhile, the headphones, meant to unify the audience in a shared soundscape, instead isolate viewers into their glowing silos, which feels like an ironic choice for a show supposedly about communal grief. —David Hochman, Forbes.com, 14 Sep. 2025

Musgrove bought an iPhone, MacBook Pro and Beats headphones, keeping up with some of his Grossmont High School classmates. —Jeff Sanders, San Diego Union-Tribune, 13 Sep. 2025

Given that Apple shipped about 18 million sets of wireless headphones in the first quarter alone, according to Canalys, the company's entry into the market will expose a wider subset of customers to improvements translation tech has made in recent years. —Kif Leswing, CNBC, 12 Sep. 2025

This will make locating the headphones even easier from further away. —PC Magazine, 12 Sep. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1908, in the meaning defined above

Rhymes for headphone

• alone
• atone
• backbone
• bemoan
• bluestone
• breastbone
• brownstone
• capstone
• cheekbone
• condone
• curbstone
• cyclone

Kids Definition

headphone

noun

head·​phone ˈhed-ˌfōn 

: an earphone held over the ear by a band worn on the head

—usually used in plural