5  definitions  found 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Telephone  \Tel"e*phone\,  n.  [Gr.  ?  far  off  +  ?  sound.]  (Physics) 
  An  instrument  for  reproducing  sounds,  especially  articulate 
  speech,  at  a  distance. 
 
  Note:  The  ordinary  telephone  consists  essentially  of  a  device 
  by  which  currents  of  electricity,  produced  by  sounds 
  through  the  agency  of  certain  mechanical  devices  and 
  exactly  corresponding  in  duration  and  intensity  to  the 
  vibrations  of  the  air  which  attend  them  are 
  transmitted  to  a  distant  station,  and  there  acting  on 
  suitable  mechanism,  reproduce  similar  sounds  by 
  repeating  the  vibrations.  The  necessary  variations  in 
  the  electrical  currents  are  usually  produced  by  means 
  of  a  microphone  attached  to  a  thin  diaphragm  upon  which 
  the  voice  acts  and  are  intensified  by  means  of  an 
  induction  coil.  In  the  magnetic  telephone,  or 
  magneto-telephone,  the  diaphragm  is  of  soft  iron  placed 
  close  to  the  pole  of  a  magnet  upon  which  is  wound  a 
  coil  of  fine  wire,  and  its  vibrations  produce 
  corresponding  vibrable  currents  in  the  wire  by 
  induction.  The  mechanical,  or  string,  telephone  is  a 
  device  in  which  the  voice  or  sound  causes  vibrations  in 
  a  thin  diaphragm,  which  are  directly  transmitted  along 
  a  wire  or  string  connecting  it  to  a  similar  diaphragm 
  at  the  remote  station,  thus  reproducing  the  sound.  It 
  does  not  employ  electricity. 
 
  From  Webster's  Revised  Unabridged  Dictionary  (1913)  [web1913]: 
 
  Telephone  \Tel"e*phone\,  v.  t. 
  To  convey  or  announce  by  telephone. 
 
  From  WordNet  r  1.6  [wn]: 
 
  telephone 
  n  1:  an  instrument  that  converts  sound  into  signals  that  can  be 
  transmitted  over  distances  and  then  converts  received 
  signals  back  into  sounds;  "I  talked  to  him  on  the 
  telephone"  [syn:  {phone},  {telephone  set}] 
  2:  transmitting  speech  at  a  distance  [syn:  {telephony}] 
  v  :  get  or  try  to  get  into  communication  by  telephone;  "I  tried 
  to  call  you  all  night";  "Take  two  aspirin  and  call  me  in 
  the  morning"  [syn:  {call},  {call  up},  {phone},  {ring}] 
 
  From  U.S.  Gazetteer  (1990)  [gazetteer]: 
 
  Telephone,  TX 
  Zip  code(s):  75488 
 
  From  THE  DEVIL'S  DICTIONARY  ((C)1911  Released  April  15  1993)  [devils]: 
 
  TELEPHONE,  n.  An  invention  of  the  devil  which  abrogates  some  of  the 
  advantages  of  making  a  disagreeable  person  keep  his  distance. 
 
 

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