pager

¹ American  

[pey-jer] / ˈpeɪ dʒər /

noun

1. something, as a book or brochure, having a specified number of pages page (usually used in combination).

   Her latest report was a 12-pager.

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pager ² American  

[pey-jer] / ˈpeɪ dʒər /

noun

1. beeper.

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pager British  

/ ˈpeɪdʒə /

noun

1. a small electronic device, capable of receiving short messages; usually carried by people who need to be contacted urgently (e.g. doctors)

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pager Cultural  

1. A wireless device that, when activated, signals the bearer to contact either a predetermined party or the party indicated on the device itself. Often called a beeper for the annoying beeps some pagers use to alert their owner.

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Etymology

Origin of pager¹

First recorded in 1965–70; page ¹ + -er ¹

Origin of pager¹

1965–70; page ² ( def. ) + -er ¹

Example Sentences

We can do that, I reply, before the alarm of my pager calls me back to the unit once again.

From New York Times

Scroll through the emoji keyboard and you'll see plenty of pictures of redundant tech: a pager, a fax machine, even a floppy disk because once an emoji is added, it never gets removed.

From BBC

Further around the harbour, the lifeboat station will be manned all week due to "concerns over crews responding to pagers, and navigating through the town and the tourists," senior helm George Deacon said.

From BBC

Hospital discharges were being done by hand, and a pager system to alert multiple doctors when a patient suffered a cardiac arrest that was down was replaced by a system of personal mobile numbers.

From Seattle Times

He carried a pager in his golf bag and said he would leave if his wife went into labor with their first child.

From Seattle Times

Related Words

• intercom