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Glite Dictionary
phone jack

phone jack

1 3.4
A socket on a wall where you plug a telephone to connect it
  • noun
  • /foʊn dʒæk/
translation icon : toma de teléfono
  • It connects to the internet and provides a regular phone jack.
  • 1/4-inch phone jack

Examples

  • To connect the telephone, you need to insert the plug into the phone jack on the wall.

  • The CalistoPro plugs right into a standard analog phone jack at the wall (such as you'd have at home).

    Blog text (10)

  • Hey, uh, have any of you guys seen the phone jack?

    Fanboys (2009)

  • Should I just plug this in the phone jack?

    Single White Female (1992)

  • Aren't you the one that ripped the phone jack out of the wall?

    Unknown (2006)

  • Paul is seated on the couch, typing into his powerbook, which is hooked up to a phone jack in the wall.

    Fiction book (2002)

  • After moving to a new apartment, she found several phone jacks scattered throughout the rooms.

  • He had to access the phone jack behind the desk to get his internet connection working.

Synonyms

socket
vsphone jack
24 2.8

A place in a wall where you plug devices to get power

is specific to connecting voice handsets rather than power or general components
jack
vsphone jack
13 5.6

A socket where you plug a cable to connect a device

is limited to connecting voice handsets to a network rather than general devices
telephone jack
vsphone jack
3.4

A small wall socket where you plug a phone to connect to the phone line

has identical meaning but uses a shorter common word form

Surface Forms

phone jack singular
phone jacks plural

Morphology

phone + jack

The compound is fully compositional: 'phone' (telephone device) modifies 'jack' (a socket/receptacle), so the meaning 'a socket for a telephone plug' is directly derivable from the parts. This noun-noun formation is a common, productive pattern in English (and mirrored in many languages), so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily understand it.

Etymology

Phone jack comes from old telephone switchboards where operators pushed a plug into a small hole called a jack to connect calls. That's why phone jack now means the wall socket where you 'connect' a telephone.