touch-toneadj.n.
/ˈtʌtʃtəʊn/, U.S. /ˈtətʃˌtoʊn/ A. adj.
Of, relating to, or utilizing a system of telephone dialling and signalling in which each digit and symbol is transmitted as a particular combination of audible tones, as generated by the keys of a push-button telephone; (also) designating this system. Chiefly in touchtone phone n., touchtone telephone n. at Compounds.The system, also called dual tone multi-frequency signalling, was first developed by AT&T as an alternative to the pulse dialling system employed by rotary telephones.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [adjective] > types of telephony
radio-telephonic1908
dial-up1960
touch-tone1960
cellular1972
1960 Bell Telephone Mag. Winter 54/2 The first service offering of Touch-tone calling began in November.
1961 Republican-Courier (Findlay, Ohio) 31 Oct. 3/4 The M. and S. Telephone Answering Service..is in the process of installing the touch tone system.
1972 Sci. Amer. Sept. 112/3 The first telephone switching systems were actuated by human operators; today the job is done automatically by means of a dial or ‘Touch-Tone’ terminal on the user's telephone.
1990 Oskaloosa (Iowa) Herald 25 Apr. 2/5 The Iowa Utilities Board ruled the phone company must supply touch tone service to all of its 750,000 Iowa customers whether they want it or not.
2012 R. Pieraccini Voice in Machine viii. 217 Once you've made the call and the connection is established, you're free to send other touch-tone signals by again pressing keys on your keypad.
B. n.
1. The touch-tone system (see sense A.).
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > [noun] > types of
telephonography1889
wireless telephony1899
radio-telephony1906
touch-tone1962
mobile telephony1965
POTS1970
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > types of
microtelephone1879
field telephone1880
telephone extension1881
pay telephone1886
home telephone1893
substation1897
extension1906
railophone1911
dial phone1917
payphone1919
dial telephone1921
autophone1922
mobile telephone1930
viewphone1932
videophone1944
mobile phone1945
car phone1946
video telephone1947
speaker-phone1955
picture telephone1956
princess phone1959
touchtone telephone1961
touch-tone1962
touchtone phone1963
picture phone1964
Trimphone1965
princess telephone1966
vision-telephone1966
visiophone1971
princess1973
warbler1973
landline1977
cardphone1978
feature phone1979
smartphone1980
mobile1982
cell phone1983
Vodafone1984
cellular1985
mobile device1989
brick1990
satphone1991
celly1992
burner phone1996
keitai1998
burner2002
1962 Official Gaz. (U.S. Patent Office) 19 June tm122 American Telegraph and Telephone Company, New York... Touch-Tone. For providing telephone communication service.
1972 Times 26 Jan. 18/6 In North America, ‘Touch-Tone’ is the rule rather than the exception.
2006 J. B. Corbett Communicating Nature iv. 97 Rotary dialing was a significant improvement over switchboards, and Touch-Tone was an even bigger improvement.
2. A tone used in the touch-tone system.
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1967 S. H. Fuller et al. Remote Credit Terminal in J. R. McIntyre et al. Credit Terminal Design Competition (Student Design Project, Univ. of Michigan) 92 (heading) Conversion of veritable data into touch tones.
1987 Star (Orland Park, Illinois) 15 Oct. a12/5 With the current version [of the program], your Mac must be equipped with a modem, but a new version..will use the Mac's internal speaker to generate touch tones for dialing the phone.
1991 Personal Computer World Feb. 320/2 Telephone hold systems should use the touch tones from your phone to allow you to select your choice of tune.
2009 N.Y. Times (National ed.) 15 Feb. (Arts & Leisure section) 24/4 The beat stays brisk and unpredictable; one track is built around booping touch tones and dial tones.
Compounds
touchtone phone n. = touchtone telephone n.
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society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > types of
microtelephone1879
field telephone1880
telephone extension1881
pay telephone1886
home telephone1893
substation1897
extension1906
railophone1911
dial phone1917
payphone1919
dial telephone1921
autophone1922
mobile telephone1930
viewphone1932
videophone1944
mobile phone1945
car phone1946
video telephone1947
speaker-phone1955
picture telephone1956
princess phone1959
touchtone telephone1961
touch-tone1962
touchtone phone1963
picture phone1964
Trimphone1965
princess telephone1966
vision-telephone1966
visiophone1971
princess1973
warbler1973
landline1977
cardphone1978
feature phone1979
smartphone1980
mobile1982
cell phone1983
Vodafone1984
cellular1985
mobile device1989
brick1990
satphone1991
celly1992
burner phone1996
keitai1998
burner2002
1963 Indiana Bell News July 5/2 The equipment must be there before a single touch-tone phone can be sold.
1986 Pop. Mech. Dec. 138/1 (advt.) All you do is dial your security code on any TouchTone phone and you retrieve your messages.
2012 S. Bair Bull by Horns (2013) x. 124 I was on the phone in our upstairs bedroom when our discussion was interrupted by a click and then the sound of someone punching numbers into our touch tone phone.
touchtone telephone n. a push-button telephone.
ΘΚΠ
society > communication > telecommunication > telegraphy or telephony > telephony > telephone equipment > [noun] > telephone > types of
microtelephone1879
field telephone1880
telephone extension1881
pay telephone1886
home telephone1893
substation1897
extension1906
railophone1911
dial phone1917
payphone1919
dial telephone1921
autophone1922
mobile telephone1930
viewphone1932
videophone1944
mobile phone1945
car phone1946
video telephone1947
speaker-phone1955
picture telephone1956
princess phone1959
touchtone telephone1961
touch-tone1962
touchtone phone1963
picture phone1964
Trimphone1965
princess telephone1966
vision-telephone1966
visiophone1971
princess1973
warbler1973
landline1977
cardphone1978
feature phone1979
smartphone1980
mobile1982
cell phone1983
Vodafone1984
cellular1985
mobile device1989
brick1990
satphone1991
celly1992
burner phone1996
keitai1998
burner2002
1961 A. W. Jones in Transportation Design Considerations (Transportation Res. Conf. National Acad. Sci. Aug. 1960) 51 Any scheme developed must be made to fit all existing systems where it might be applied. An example is the Touch-Tone telephone now being tried out in Hagerstown, Maryland and Roanoke, Virginia.
1973 Alton (Illinois) Tel. 4 Aug. b9/3 Customers of a Seattle bank with the help of 12-button Touch-Tone telephones now have access to a talking computer.
2008 S. Garrett Personal Finance Workbk. for Dummies xxii. 260 This service works just like an online bill-payment service, but you can use your touchtone telephone to authorize payments instead.
This entry has been updated (OED Third Edition, December 2016; most recently modified version published online March 2022).
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adj.n.1960- to hold price upon
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