telephone kiosk
- noun
- /ˈtɛlɪˌfoʊn ˈkiːɒsk/
- Archaic
:
cabina telefónica
- He stepped into the telephone kiosk to make an important call while waiting for his bus.
Examples
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There is a telephone kiosk.
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Kill him at the telephone kiosk.
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Everyone pays attention to the telephone kiosk around you.
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The town installed a new telephone kiosk near the park for easy public access.
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During the festival, a telephone kiosk was set up for visitors to contact their friends.
Synonyms
42
1.5
A small enclosed space with a public phone for private calls
4
2.3
A small enclosed space in a public place with a phone for people to use
1
3.0
A small box on a street that holds a public phone
A public booth with a phone for making calls
How Enclosed
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a small booth with a public telephone' is directly and transparently derived from combining 'telephone' (the communication device) with 'kiosk' (a small booth). This noun+noun composition is a common, compositional pattern found cross-linguistically (e.g. 'telephone booth', 'phone kiosk'), so a B1 learner who knows both words will readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
Telephone kiosk comes from the idea of a small booth called a kiosk that holds a public telephone. Imagine stepping into a tiny street 'room' to make a private call, so the name means 'a small building on the street with a public phone'.