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Glite Dictionary
headphone

headphone

99 1.0
A device you wear on your head or in your ears to listen to music
  • noun
  • /ˈhɛdˌfoʊn/
translation icon : auriculares
  • I put on my headphones to listen to my favorite music while working.
  • wear headphones
  • use headphones
  • noise-canceling headphones

Get some DMX, get these headphones and show that kid what's up.

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Examples

  • And I got these cute headphones from Joan.

  • And how loud do these headphones go?

    Flightplan (2005)

  • But if I needed my headphones, where would I look for them first?

  • So these are the other headphones that come with it.

  • Just leave the headphones in there.

    That Thing You Do! (1996)

  • Would you mind if I used your headphones?

    Boys on the Side (1995)

  • Everyone wishes they had headphones at this point.

    October Baby (2011)

  • Curtis, what do you say we get you headphones this Christmas?

    The Santa Clause 2 (2002)

  • Each participant wore sleep shades and a headphone set during all the trials.

    Academic text (2009)

  • As she adjusts the volume in her headphones, a favorite rock song begins.

    Academic text (2011)

Synonyms

phone
vsheadphone
190 1.0

A pair of small speakers you wear on or in your ears to listen to sound

is the general over-or-in-ear listening device typically connected to devices
headset
vsheadphone
54 1.3

A pair of headphones you wear over your head with a microphone for listening and speaking

is mainly for listening alone and may lack a microphone
earpiece
vsheadphone
28 3.3

A small device you put in or over the ear to hear sound from a phone

is the broader over-or-in-ear listening device not limited to discreet use
earphone
vsheadphone
19 3.2

A small device you put in or over your ear to listen to sound privately

is the general device worn in or over the ear and usually connected to electronics
earbud
vsheadphone
12 2.7

A small headphone that fits inside the ear to listen privately

is the general over-or-in-ear listening device not only small in-ear types
earplug
vsheadphone
1 3.0

A small earphone put into the ear to listen to music or phone calls

is the general over-or-in-ear listening device not specifically canal-inserted

How Portable

earbud
12 2.7
headphone
99 1.0

Surface Forms

headphone singular
headphones plural

Morphology

headphone = head + phone (transparent) = head + phone

A straightforward compound of 'head' + 'phone' referring to a sound device worn on the head, so learners can infer the meaning from the components.

Etymology

The word headphone joins head and phone, where head is the top of your body and phone comes from a word that means 'sound' or 'voice', as in telephone. So a headphone is a small speaker you wear on your head to hear music or speech privately.