"answerphone" means: A telephone containing a built-in device for recording incoming callers’ messages for later retrieval.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
answerphone
(British, Ireland, Commonwealth) A telephone containing a built-in device for recording incoming callers’ messages for later retrieval.
Definitions
(British, Ireland, Commonwealth) A telephone containing a built-in device for recording incoming callers’ messages for later retrieval.
I keep trying to call her, but all I get is the answerphone.
"answerphone" means: A telephone containing a built-in device for recording incoming callers’ messages for later retrieval.. This is a fairly neutral word with no inherent risk attached. There is no real cause for parental concern; it is descriptive vocabulary rather than something dangerous. If your child uses it, context will usually make the meaning clear. A brief, curious question about where they heard it is generally enough to know whether to follow up.
"answerphone" means: A telephone containing a built-in device for recording incoming callers’ messages for later retrieval.. Register: neutral, standard English, usable in most everyday contexts. Note the regional or dialect label (British) — usage may sound odd outside that variety. A common non-native mistake is to use the word in the wrong register, or to assume one fixed meaning when it is actually polysemous; always check the surrounding register and the audience before producing it yourself. In formal writing, prefer a neutral synonym or a short descriptive phrase, and use this word only when you have heard or read it being used naturally in a comparable context.
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For specific readers
Why is this section here?
Slang is read by different audiences for very different reasons. The For parents view re-explains the term in plain, non-judgemental language so a caregiver can understand what their child means without needing the surrounding subculture. The For English learners view focuses on register (when it's safe to use), formal alternatives, and common mistakes — what a textbook won't teach you.
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Related terms
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Semantically related
- telephone box64%
(British, Ireland, Australia) A small enclosure housing a public telephone (usually a payphone).
- machine63%
(telephony, abbreviation) An answering machine or, by extension, voice mail.
- telephone kiosk59%
(UK, Irish) A telephone booth.
- telephone58%
(countable, telephony) A telecommunication device which converts data or sounds (usually speech) into electrical signals which are then transmitted to enable two or more people to communicate with each other over a distance; now usually a device having a dial or keypad with numerals for entering a number, etc., to connect with a person, and means (such as a sound or vibration) for alerting one to an incoming call or transmission; also, the handset or receiver of such a device.
- phone box58%
The standard British, Irish, and Australian term for a public telephone enclosure — what Americans call a phone booth. The classic British red phone box (the K6 model designed by Giles Gilbert Scott) is an internationally recognised cultural icon. Used figuratively to describe any very small, cramped space.