walkie-talkie

or walk·y-talk·y

[ waw-kee-taw-kee ]

noun

, Radio.

1. a combined transmitter and receiver light enough to be carried by one person: developed originally for military use in World War II.

walkie-talkie

/ ˌwɔːkɪˈtɔːkɪ /

noun

1. a small combined radio transmitter and receiver, usually operating on shortwave, that can be carried around by one person: widely used by the police, medical services, etc

Word History and Origins

Origin of walkie-talkie¹

1935–40, Americanism; walk, talk, -ie

Example Sentences

They called in a detection van from the Post Office in an attempt to trace the walkie-talkie signal.

From BBC

Volunteers in uniform are patrolling the predominantly Christian neighbourhood holding walkie-talkies to co-ordinate their operation.

From BBC

The week before that, a series of walkie-talkie and pager explosions targeting the group left at least 32 dead and over 3000 injured.

From BBC

Its communications have been sabotaged with the shocking detonations of its pagers and walkie-talkies, and many of its weapons have been destroyed in air strikes.

From BBC

In the days following, Israel staged a two-day wave of detonations with booby-trapped pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah, followed by intensive airstrikes and targeted pursuit of the group’s top leadership.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• intercom
• pager