telephone system
4
2.7
- noun
- /ˈtɛlɪˌfoʊn ˈsɪstəm/
:
sistema telefónico
- The company's internal telephone system has been improved to enhance communication between employees.
- satellite telephone system
Examples
-
Both our field observations and our survey data suggest that the presence of the telephone system is a mixed blessing.
Academic text (1990) -
Have you ever phoned your telephone company or health insurance provider only to be greeted by an automated telephone system?
Academic text (2009) -
How stuff gets on the air, how it gets on the telephone system, is all very much a part of Canadian cultural principles.
Academic text (2001) -
The largest telephone system for a single event was installed just to accommodate the needs of the media.
Academic text (2000) -
And, you know, in the early days of the telephone system, operators listened into phone calls.
-
There was some sort of glitch in the emergency telephone system.
-
We're plugged into the telephone system.
-
The more letters soldiers reported writing, the more unhappiness with the telephone system they reported.
Academic text (1990) -
Thus, this negative effect was not statistically associated with either general dissatisfaction with the telephone system or with concern specifically over the cost of telephone communication.
Academic text (1990) -
The information can be stored on-site or transmitted via radio, satellite, or landline and cellular telephone systems to a computer.
Academic text (1994)
Synonyms
42
3.7
Companies that provide phone or internet services over long distances
24
1.1
A service that lets people make and receive calls
22
3.0
A way to send and receive information between people or machines
9
2.7
A system that sends voice over wires or the internet
8
1.9
A system that lets people make and receive phone calls
3
6.0
A system that sends people's voices over a distance by phone
A network that carries phone calls and internet data over long distances
A set of electronic networks and devices that sends information over long distances like phones or the internet
How Complex
4
2.7
- Specialized
9
2.7
- Specialized
1
3.7
73
1.6
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning is directly compositional: a 'telephone system' is simply a system composed of telephones or infrastructure for telephone communication, so a learner who knows 'telephone' and 'system' can infer the combined meaning. This noun-noun compound follows common, cross-linguistic compounding patterns and entails no idiomatic shift, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner.
Etymology
Telephone system joins the word telephone, built from parts meaning 'far' and 'voice', and the word system, meaning a group of connected parts. Picture wires and machines carrying a person's voice from one place to another. That's why Telephone system means 'a network that lets people talk at a distance'.