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

With the 911 center silent, cellphones and landlines and internet all down, officials inside the Emergency Operations Center abandon it. —Jennifer Berry Hawes, ProPublica, 19 May 2025

But sometime in September 2024, her landline stopped working. —Jasmine Mendez, Los Angeles Times, 6 May 2025

Police say Taylor pulled the phone receiver from the base of the landline and left it lying on the floor under Brant. —Milena Malaver, Miami Herald, 26 Apr. 2025

Such changes could mean that landline services, which rely on an old network of copper wires rather than cellular or internet-based connections, will eventually be phased out. —Sharon Bernstein, Sacbee.com, 24 Apr. 2025

Word History

First Known Use

1865, in the meaning defined at sense 1

Rhymes for landline

• affine
• airline
• align
• aline
• assign
• baseline
• beamline
• benign
• bloodline
• bovine
• byline
• canine

Kids Definition

landline

noun

land·​line -ˌ(d)līn 

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