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

The lawsuit is bound to raise concerns that AT&T will remove landlines in rural and remote areas that struggle to receive reliable cell signals. —Michael Kan, PC Magazine, 21 May 2026

At night, unknown numbers called my cell and landline. —Abraham Jiménez Enoa, The Dial, 19 May 2026

There is a black landline that is, oddly, frequently in use and an electric calculator used to tally up bills. —Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 14 May 2026

Its residents have to use landlines and, apparently, only the oldest televisions currently available to humankind. —Jen Chaney, Vulture, 30 Apr. 2026

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
• brucine
• byline

Kids Definition

landline

noun

land·​line -ˌ(d)līn 

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