housephone

[ hous-fohn ]

noun

1. a telephone, used for making calls within a hotel or apartment house, that does not have a direct line to an exchange and whose calls are routed through the building's switchboard.

Word History and Origins

Origin of housephone¹

house + phone ¹

Example Sentences

In the middle of it, the doorman called up on the housephone and asked if anybody was dancing up there.

From Literature