candlestick telephone

English

Noun

candlestick telephone (plural candlestick telephones)

  1. (telephony, historical) An early style of telephone with a mouthpiece (transmitter) mounted at the top of its stand, and a receiver that was held by the user to the ear during a call. When not in use, the receiver rested in the fork of the switch hook protruding to the side of the stand, thereby disconnecting the audio circuit from the network.
    Synonyms: candlestick phone, daffodil telephone, pedestal telephone, pillar telephone, stick phone

Further reading

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