Skip to main content
Glite Dictionary
phone-in

phone-in

1 3.8
A radio or TV show where people call in to speak and ask questions
  • noun
  • /ˈfoʊnˌɪn/
  • Literature
translation icon : programa de llamadas
  • In the past, he has been a columnist for the Montreal Gazette and the Vancouver Sun, and he hosted a radio phone-in trivia show for more than a dozen years, but nowadays he works freelance in the promotional and advertising fields when not writing fiction.
  • phone-in show

Now, on this phone in, I had three male callers towards the end of the hour who phoned in and they all were crying.

Examples

  • The phone-in program allowed viewers to ask questions directly to the expert guest.

  • Listeners participated in the lively phone-in, sharing their opinions on local issues.

  • Name of the program is Feminine Phone-In.

    Sole Survivor (1984)

  • The phone-in program was heating up, the one in which Nixon was either a criminal or a saint.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Now, on this phone in, I had three male callers towards the end of the hour who phoned in and they all were crying.

    Triggernometry

  • " Every week, we pick a different topic, choose some appropriate songs, and intersperse the songs with the live phone-ins asking for my advice.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • Local folk trio Will-o'-the-wisp will be playing live in the studio, and I'll be taking your calls on my ever popular fireside phone-in.

    Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)

  • Pat might be a dinosaur, filling his show with chit-chat and phone-ins like it's 1983, but you're one of us.

    Alan Partridge: Alpha Papa (2013)

  • "I think she's waiting to see it in writing before she makes any announcements." "What kind of offer?" "To host her own phone-in show," Brandi Crowe explained.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • During the radio phone-in, many callers expressed their views on the new policy.

Synonyms

call-in
vsphone-in
8 3.7

A part of a radio or TV show when people phone to give their views

refers to a whole programme format that uses audience telephone participation

How Interactive

phone-in
  • Literature
1 3.8
program
  • US
818 1.8

Surface Forms

phone-in singular
phone-ins plural
phone ins plural
phone in singular

Morphology

phone-in = phone (semi-transparent) = in + phone

The parts are clear, but the noun refers to a specific broadcast format rather than just the literal combination of phoning and being in. [Postprocessing: moved 'in' from base_words to prefix]

Etymology

Phone-in starts with phone, short for 'telephone', and ends with in, which here means 'into the show' or 'taking part'. So a phone-in is a radio or TV program where listeners call to speak live or give their opinions.