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Glite Dictionary
telephone receiver

telephone receiver

1 2.0
A part of a phone that you hold to your ear and mouth to listen and speak
  • noun
  • /ˈtɛlɪˌfoʊn rɪˈsiːvər/
translation icon : auricular
  • Balsam sat at his desk, the telephone receiver still off the hook.
  • picked up the telephone receiver
  • holding the telephone receiver
  • lifted the telephone receiver

Examples

  • Without saying another word, China replaced the telephone receiver in its cradle so delicately he didn't hear it.

    Fiction book (1995)

  • Gripping the telephone receiver so tightly, my knuckles were waxy-white.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • I picked up the telephone receiver and said hello.

    Fiction book (1998)

  • " Just a minute," said the policeman, and picked up the telephone receiver.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • The receptionist looked up and saw them, and then covered the telephone receiver with her hand.

    Fiction book (1997)

  • "Yeah, well, same to you, buddy!" Spike shouted into the telephone receiver.

    Fiction book (1996)

  • "Tina, sweetheart?" he crooned into the telephone receiver.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • "Well, take care." John got back to his desk and rescued the telephone receiver that he'd left dangling by its cord.

    Fiction book (1992)

  • Before I left Shorter's room, I had fogged the telephone receiver with my breath the way Banszak had fogged his glasses.

    Fiction book (1994)

  • He picked up the telephone receiver and pressed it to his ear to listen to the caller.

Synonyms

receiver
vstelephone receiver
112 3.4

A device that picks up signals, for example a radio or television

is the part you hold to ear and mouth for speaking on a call
handset
vstelephone receiver
34 2.5

The part of a telephone you hold to speak and listen

is held to the ear and mouth for listening and speaking during a call

Surface Forms

telephone receiver singular
telephone receivers plural

Morphology

telephone + receiver

The meaning 'the part of a telephone that you hold to your ear and mouth' is directly and compositionally derived from 'telephone' (the device) + 'receiver' (the unit that receives audio/signals), so the overall referent is predictable. This noun–noun compound follows common compounding patterns and similar constructions exist in many languages, making it immediately comprehensible to a B1 learner who knows both constituents.

Etymology

Telephone receiver comes from early telephones where the single heavy piece you held 'received' sound for your ear and mouth, so people called that part the receiver. That's why telephone receiver today means the part of a phone you hold to listen and speak.