phoe|nix /fiː n I ks/ (phoenixes )
1 N‑COUNT [usu sing] A phoenix is an imaginary bird which, according to ancient stories, burns itself to ashes every five hundred years and is then born again.
2 N‑SING If you describe someone or something as a phoenix , you mean that they return again after seeming to disappear or be destroyed. [LITERARY ] □ Out of the ashes of the economic shambles, a phoenix of recovery can arise.
phone ◆◆◇ /foʊ n/ (phones , phoning , phoned )
1 N‑SING [oft by N ] The phone is an electrical system that you use to talk to someone else in another place, by dialling a number on a piece of equipment and speaking into it. □ You can buy insurance over the phone. □ She looked forward to talking to her daughter by phone. □ Do you have an address and phone number for him?
2 N‑COUNT The phone is the piece of equipment that you use when you dial someone's phone number and talk to them. □ Two minutes later the phone rang. □ Doug's 14-year-old son Jamie answered the phone.
3 → see also cellular phone , mobile phone
4 N‑SING If you say that someone picks up or puts down the phone , you mean that they lift or replace the receiver. □ She picked up the phone, and began to dial Maurice Campbell's number.
5 VERB When you phone someone, you dial their phone number and speak to them by phone. □ [V n] He'd phoned Laura to see if she was better. □ [V ] I got more and more angry as I waited for her to phone.
6 PHRASE If you say that someone is on the phone , you mean that they are speaking to someone else by phone. □ She's always on the phone, wanting to know what I've been up to.
▸ phone in
1 PHRASAL VERB If you phone in to a radio or television show, you phone the show in order to give your opinion on a matter that the show has raised. □ [V P ] Listeners have been invited to phone in to pick the winner.
2 PHRASAL VERB If you phone in to a place, you make a phone call to that place. □ [V P to-inf] He has phoned in to say he is thinking over his options.
3 PHRASAL VERB If you phone in an order for something, you place the order by phone. □ [V P n] Just phone in your order three or more days prior to departure. [Also V n P ]
4 PHRASE If you phone in sick , you phone your workplace to say that you will not come to work because you are ill. □ On Monday I was still upset and I phoned in sick to work.
▸ phone up PHRASAL VERB When you phone someone up , you dial their phone number and speak to them by phone. □ [V n P ] Phone him up and tell him to come and have dinner with you one night. [Also V P n]
pho ne book (phone books ) N‑COUNT A phone book is a book that contains an alphabetical list of the names, addresses, and phone numbers of the people in a town or area.
pho ne booth (phone booths )
1 N‑COUNT A phone booth is a place in a station, hotel, or other public building where there is a public telephone.
2 N‑COUNT A phone booth is the same as a phone box . [AM ]
pho ne box (phone boxes ) N‑COUNT A phone box is a small shelter in the street in which there often used to be a public telephone. [BRIT ] in AM, use phone booth
pho ne call (phone calls ) N‑COUNT If you make a phone call , you dial someone's phone number and speak to them by phone. □ Wait there for a minute. I have to make a phone call.
phone|card /foʊ nkɑː r d/ (phonecards ) also phone card N‑COUNT A phonecard is a plastic card that you can use instead of money to pay for telephone calls.
pho ne-in (phone-ins ) N‑COUNT A phone-in is a programme on radio or television in which people phone with questions or opinions and their calls are broadcast. [mainly BRIT ] □ She took part in a BBC radio phone-in programme. in AM, usually use call-in
pho|neme /foʊ niːm/ (phonemes ) N‑COUNT A phoneme is the smallest unit of sound which is significant in a language. [TECHNICAL ]
pho ne-tapping
1 N‑UNCOUNT Phone-tapping is the activity of listening secretly to someone's phone conversations using special electronic equipment. In most cases phone-tapping is illegal. □ There have also been claims of continued phone-tapping and bugging.
2 → see also tap
pho|net|ics /fəne t I ks/ The form phonetic is used as a modifier. 1 N‑UNCOUNT In linguistics, phonetics is the study of speech sounds.
2 ADJ [usu ADJ n] Phonetic means relating to the sound of a word or to the sounds that are used in languages. □ …the Japanese phonetic system, with its relatively few, simple sounds. ● pho|neti|cal|ly /fəne t I kli/ ADV [ADV with v] □ It's wonderful to watch her now going through things phonetically learning how to spell things.
pho|ney /foʊ ni/ (phoneys ) also phony
1 ADJ If you describe something as phoney , you disapprove of it because it is false rather than genuine. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ He'd phoned with some phoney excuse she didn't believe for a minute.
2 ADJ If you say that someone is phoney , you disapprove of them because they are pretending to be someone that they are not in order to deceive people. [INFORMAL , DISAPPROVAL ] □ He looks totally phoney to me. ● N‑COUNT Phoney is also a noun. □ 'He's false, a phoney,' Harry muttered.
pho |ney wa r also phony war N‑SING A phoney war is when two opposing groups are openly hostile towards each other, as if they were at war, but there is no real fighting. [BRIT ]