cellular phone
35
2.3
- noun
- /ˈsɛljələr foʊn/
- US
:
teléfono móvil (ES)
- You can make calls from anywhere with a cellular phone.
- cellular phones and computers
- even cellular phones
- cellular phones and fax machines
It's kind of like charging your cellular phone.
- It's kind of like charging your cellular phone.
- You can now video chat via your cellular phone.
Examples
-
I always keep my cellular phone on me in case of emergencies.
-
She uses her cellular phone to stay connected with her friends while traveling.
-
-Up next, do you use a cellular phone?
-
Yes, it was a cellular phone.
-
I sit down next to a man talking on a cellular phone.
Fiction book (1996) -
Let's say I have a cellular phone.
-
The police have verified the call, Louise, made on your cellular phone.
-
Are you talkin' to me on a cellular phone?
-
"No, I have no clue as to what's going on," Brophy said into the cellular phone.
Fiction book (1997) -
Sawyer walked to his car; he could hear his cellular phone buzzing.
Fiction book (1997)
Synonyms
∞
1.0
A small device you use to call and talk to people
∞
1.0
A device for talking to people far away
703
2.0
A mobile phone used to call and text people
227
1.8
A small computer you carry with a touchscreen that makes calls and runs apps
175
1.0
A small phone you carry to call people, send messages, and use apps
58
1.0
A small telephone you carry to call, text, and go online
7
3.0
A small phone you carry to make calls and send messages from many places
1
3.3
A phone that uses radio signals so you can move while talking
1
8.4
A telephone that sends voice or data by radio waves instead of wires
A phone that sends and receives voice using radio waves
How Far
Surface Forms
Morphology
The noun phrase is directly compositional: 'cellular' specifies the network type (using radio cells) and 'phone' names the device, so the combined meaning 'a phone that uses cellular networks' is predictable from the parts. This adjective+noun pattern is a standard, cross-linguistically common modification, so a B1 learner who knows both constituents would readily infer the MWE's meaning.
Etymology
The noun cellular phone comes from how phone systems divide an area into many small 'cells', which is why the word cellular is used; each cell has a radio tower so a portable phone can move from one cell to another by radio. That's why cellular phone means a portable phone that works over a wide area.