private line
5
3.7
- noun
- /ˈpraɪvɪt laɪn/
- Specialized
:
línea privada
- Sir, you have an emergency call on your private line.
- get a private line
- call the private line
- own private line
Examples
-
This is my private line.
-
Well, I called your private line a few times, nobody picked up.
-
Let me give you his private line.
-
Mike, you have a call on your private line.
-
May I use the private line?
-
I mean, it makes sense that the top dogs get their own private lines.
Fiction book (1997) -
If you'd like to speak to an employee, you can call him or her on their private line.
-
Don't ask me how she got my private line, it's unlisted.
-
Murphy dials General Latimer's private line.
Fiction book (1999) -
I called the office, but the only number I had was his private line.
Synonyms
1
4.0
A telephone wire that connects a home or building to the local phone exchange
How Private
Surface Forms
Morphology
The meaning 'a telephone line dedicated to a single user' is directly and transparently derivable from combining 'private' (reserved for specific people) with 'line' (a channel for communication). This compositional noun phrase follows a common, cross-linguistic pattern (e.g., 'private room', 'private office') and would be understandable to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.
Etymology
The noun private line comes from early telephone days when many homes shared one wire and people could hear each other's calls. A private line was a separate wire just for one person or business, so the phrase now means 'a telephone line used only by one person or company'.