on the phone
idiom
1
: using a telephone to talk to someone
Can you see who's at the door? I'm on the phone.
I was on the phone with my sister until late last night.
2
British
: connected to a telephone system
How many households aren't on the phone?
Examples of on the phone in a Sentence
Recent Examples on the Web
According to police, the father was down the hall talking on the phone when a family member found the child unresponsive in the tub and screamed for someone to call 911.
—
Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 12 Feb. 2026
But cowriting forced them to at least create a verbal outline, spending hours on the phone getting to know the characters before trading off chapters and editing each other’s work.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026
Once, as Wu gave Guojun a ride to a meeting, Guojun talked on the phone to Li about their business interests in Xinjiang.
—Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Always on the phone, Evans was soon seducing and scrapping with everyone from Frank Sinatra (who threatened to pull Mia Farrow off Rosemary’s Baby) to suits refusing to cast a washed up Marlon Brando in The Godfather.
—Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 9 Feb. 2026
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Justin Muszynski, Hartford Courant, 12 Feb. 2026
But cowriting forced them to at least create a verbal outline, spending hours on the phone getting to know the characters before trading off chapters and editing each other’s work.
—Clare Mulroy, USA Today, 11 Feb. 2026
Once, as Wu gave Guojun a ride to a meeting, Guojun talked on the phone to Li about their business interests in Xinjiang.
—Ava Kofman, New Yorker, 9 Feb. 2026
Always on the phone, Evans was soon seducing and scrapping with everyone from Frank Sinatra (who threatened to pull Mia Farrow off Rosemary’s Baby) to suits refusing to cast a washed up Marlon Brando in The Godfather.
—Hadley Hall Meares, Vanity Fair, 9 Feb. 2026
See All Example Sentences for on the phone
Cite this Entry
“On the phone.” Merriam-Webster.com Dictionary, Merriam-Webster, https://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/on%20the%20phone. Accessed 14 Feb. 2026.
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