telephone
TELEPHONE meaning: a device that carries speech over a distance. The nine-letter word scores 14 points in Scrabble.
Noun 3 meanings
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.
A means of communicating information from one person to another or others.
Synonym of Chinese whispers (“a game for several players in which a phrase, whispered by each person in turn to their neighbour, is often unwittingly misunderstood as it is transferred, to humorous effect by the time it reaches the last person and is compared with the original phrase; (figurative) a situation where something is changed or misunderstood as a result of passing through successive people or processes”).
Verb 3 meanings
To convey (information, a message, news, etc.) using a telephone (noun sense 1).
To (attempt to) contact (someone) using a telephone.
To (attempt to) contact someone using a telephone; to make a telephone call.
Etymology
The noun is derived from tele- (prefix meaning ‘from a distance’) + -phone (suffix denoting a device which makes a sound), modelled after German Telephon (“early apparatus converting sound into electrical signals”) (dated) (now German Telefon).
Similar and opposite words
TELEPHONE names the device, the act of calling and, as a verb, the call itself. It ranks 3,518th in English frequency with a count of 23,343. Three E tiles dominate its makeup, and Collins, NWL2023 and ENABLE all list it.
TELEPHONE in short
- Nine letters: E, E, E, H, L, N, O, P and T.
- Base Scrabble value: 14 points.
- One anagram: PHENETOLE.
- One neighbour: TELEPHONY.
- About 5 percent of nine-letter words begin with T.
What gives TELEPHONE its 14 points?
H is worth 4, P is worth 3 and the other seven tiles are worth 1 each, so 4 plus 3 plus 7 makes 14. It is a modest score for nine tiles because the word has few heavy letters. Compare that with a short word carrying a Z or a Q, which can outscore it on three tiles.
The real payoff is length. Seven tiles come from your rack and two must already be on the board, so playing all seven rack tiles through it earns the 50-point bingo bonus on top of the 14.
What is PHENETOLE?
PHENETOLE is a chemical term and the only rearrangement of the same nine letters. It is an unusual spelling that most players will never need, but it earns the same 14 points as the common word. Since the rearrangement is so obscure, treat it as trivia and never as a plan, because you would need a very specific rack to produce it.
The single neighbour is TELEPHONY, which swaps the last E for a Y and trades a 1-point tile for a 4-point Y. TELEPHONY scores 17 in total. Neither alternative will come up often.
Tile tip
Three Es on one rack choke most plays, and TELEPHONE sheds all three at once. If you hold E, E, E, P and H, it is worth building a board lane for it.
Rhymes with telephone
All rhymesOne letter away
- TELEPHONY17
Questions people ask
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