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Glite Dictionary
telephone jack

telephone jack

3.4
A small wall socket where you plug a phone to connect to the phone line
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛlɪˌfoʊn dʒæk/
translation icon : toma telefónica
  • He'd plugged his Mac into the wall, not into one of the universal sockets the Chirpsithra gave us, but into a telephone jack.
  • a modular telephone jack
  • a standard telephone jack

Examples

  • Make sure to plug the telephone into the telephone jack before making any calls.

  • He unplugged it from the wall, disconnected the telephone jack, and placed it in the bottom of the paper bag on a corner of the bed.

    Fiction book (1999)

  • We connected the modem to the telephone jack to access the internet.

  • He checked if the telephone jack was working by calling his friend.

Synonyms

socket
vstelephone jack
24 2.8

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

is aimed at network links for voice devices rather than power or supply
jack
vstelephone jack
13 5.6

A socket where you plug a cable to connect a device

is used for voice call device connections not just general electronics
phone jack
vstelephone jack
1 3.4

A socket on a wall where you plug a telephone to connect it

is specific to voice call devices rather than general electronic devices

Surface Forms

telephone jack singular
telephone jacks plural

Morphology

telephone + jack

The meaning 'a socket for plugging a telephone' is directly derivable from combining 'telephone' (the device) with 'jack' (a socket/plug receptacle). This is a transparent compound following common English noun-compounding patterns and has clear parallels in other languages, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents will readily infer the meaning.

Etymology

Telephone jack comes from the simple image of a small wall socket where the plug from the telephone fits into the jack. When the plug is 'plugged in', the phone is 'connected' to the network, so the phrase means the socket to 'plug a telephone into'.