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 lights go out and a landline rings. —Chris Gardner, HollywoodReporter, 31 Mar. 2026

The duo’s finely tuned eye for color informed the house’s open-plan living area, conceived as a series of interconnected nooks—one for mixing cocktails, another for playing records, and a third for taking calls on a throwback landline. —Laura Regensdorf, Architectural Digest, 25 Mar. 2026

Everything is written by hand, from clients’ measurements to orders placed via landline. —Marisa Meltzer, Vanity Fair, 24 Mar. 2026

People have been struck while talking on landlines, while using computers, even while sitting on the toilet, according to the National Weather Service, because current can travel through telephone wires, electrical connections, and metal pipes. —Jacob Stern, The Atlantic, 16 Mar. 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
• 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