switchboard
Americannoun
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an installation in a telephone exchange, office, hotel, etc, at which the interconnection of telephone lines is manually controlled
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an assembly of switchgear for the control of power supplies in an installation or building
Usage
What is a switchboard? A switchboard is a device used to connect telephone calls. Switchboards, which are now largely obsolete, consisted of a board of circuits and switches that needed to be manually adjusted for calls to be connected. The person who operated this kind of switchboard was called an operator or a switchboard operator. Switchboards were used in telephone exchanges as well as places that had their own internal phone systems, such as offices and hotels. In all of these settings, switchboards have been largely replaced with more advanced technology that does not require the manual connection of circuits. However, some devices might still be referred to as switchboards because they perform the same functions, just in automated ways. Sometimes, the word switchboard was used as a way of referring to the place or people who operated the switchboard, as in Call the switchboard and have them connect you. It can still be used in this way even though such switchboards are no longer in common use. The word switchboard can also refer to the control panel used to control lighting, such as on a stage or in an auditorium. This can also be called a lightboard. It can also refer to an electrical device used to control the power supply in a building. Example: My grandmother always tells me stories about how she worked as an operator and routed calls all over the world using the switchboard.
Etymology
Origin of switchboard
Example Sentences
Examples are provided to illustrate real-world usage of words in context. Any opinions expressed do not reflect the views of Dictionary.com.
Educated by the Roman Catholic Sisters of Mercy, she worked filing letters and on a switchboard.
From The Wall Street Journal • Feb. 20, 2026
Heating in her home is not turned on during the daytime, she said, showing AFP the system's switchboard mounted above her stove displaying "off".
From Barron's • Jan. 14, 2026
Or perhaps you’ll choose to investigate a wall-long switchboard, listening to callers’ problems and trying to connect them with a solution.
From Los Angeles Times • Apr. 10, 2024
Kirschenbaum was a switchboard operator for the International Rescue Committee, the international humanitarian aid group, until her retirement in 2004.
From Seattle Times • Jan. 8, 2024
Before I had time to respond to that or think about anything else, my own switchboard flared up.
From "The Brightwood Code" by Monica Hesse
Definitions and idiom definitions from Dictionary.com Unabridged, based on the Random House Unabridged Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2023
Idioms from The American Heritage® Idioms Dictionary copyright © 2002, 2001, 1995 by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company. Published by Houghton Mifflin Harcourt Publishing Company.
