noun, verb ·Uncommon ·College level

Definitions

Noun

1. 1
   A device (transducer) used to convert sound waves into a varying electric current; normally fed into an amplifier and either recorded or transmitted over radio.

   "Behind the tangled garden of microphones that had sprouted on the lectern, Goldwater spoke softly and casually about his family."

2. 2
   device for converting sound waves into electrical energy wordnet

Verb

1. 1
   To put one or more microphones on or in. transitive

Synonyms

All synonyms

micmikebeaconbugmicmike

Antonyms

All antonyms

speaker

Example

More examples

"The guide is using a microphone for us to hear her better."

Etymology

From micro- + -phone.

Related phrases

carbon microphonehot microphonehuman microphonelavalier microphonepeople's microphoneribbon microphoneshotgun microphonethroat microphoneelectric currentsound wave

Data sourced from Wiktionary, WordNet, CMU, and other open linguistic databases. Updated March 2026.