landline

noun

land·​line ˈland-ˌlīn 

variants or less commonly land line

1

: a line of transportation or communication on land

especially : a telephone line that transmits signals from one station to another directly along a wire without the use of radio waves

It reminds me of the tipping point several years ago when people realized they no longer needed a telephone landline and would do just fine with their cell phones.

—Rana Foroohar

—often used before another noun

a landline phone

a landline network

2

: a telephone that connects by wire : a landline telephone

Of course, if you're really worried, you could ditch your cell phone for a quaint landline.

—Kiera Butler

Examples of landline in a Sentence

Recent Examples on the Web

Then, the encrypted document moves via landline from the TDRS ground terminal to the Mission Control Center in the Johnston Space Center in Houston. —Ben Kesslen, Quartz, 5 Nov. 2024

Then the firm's callers — EPIC-MRA uses live callers, not computerized calls, and these days 80% of those calls are made to cell phones, not landlines — start making the calls with a set script to ask each person who agrees to take part and responds to all of the questions. —Todd Spangler, Detroit Free Press, 1 Nov. 2024

In a memorably recursive moment, the character of Casey Becker (played by Drew Barrymore) is quizzed on horror movie trivia by the killer via landline. —Sydney Bishop, CNN, 31 Oct. 2024

For example, older people tend to answer landlines, while men and middle-aged people are more responsive to mobile text-to-web surveys. —Camille Mumford, The Conversation, 22 Oct. 2024

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Kids Definition

landline

noun

land·​line -ˌ(d)līn 

: a line of communication (as by telephone) consisting of a cable laid on land