noun.a device by which sound (such as speech) is converted into electrical impulses and transmitted (as by wire or radio waves) to one or more specific receivers: phone: such as

• The telephone rang.
• We spoke by telephone.

noun.a telephone that operates by means of a landline

• a telephone call
• … an old-fashioned corded telephone. The kind that plugs right into the wall phone jack.

noun.cell phone

• In a day when most of us have a telephone in our back pocket … the need for a pay phone no longer exists.

verb.to speak to or attempt to reach by telephone

verb.to send by telephone

verb.to communicate by telephone