intercom

An intercom is a device that makes it possible for people to communicate between different rooms or areas of a building. Airplanes use intercoms so the pilot can tell passengers, "Fasten your seat belts!"

  • Pronunciation: / 'ɪntɚkɑm/
  • English description: a communication system linking different rooms within a building or ship etc
  • Synonyms: walkie-talkie
  • Chinese Translation: 对讲机(yin3 mi4 de)
  • Spanish Translation: el intercomunicador
  • ORIGIN: Many schools have an intercom system, so that students, teachers, and administrators can broadcast announcements to every classroom. Some intercoms operate as one-way communication, while others are two-way intercoms: a friend's apartment building might have an intercom you can speak into, telling her you've arrived, and she can respond, telling you she's buzzing you in. Intercom, dating from 1940, is a shortened form of intercommunication.

EXAMPLE SENTENCE:

  • The operator announced over the intercom that the train had separated, he said.
  • That’s when the soldier, who didn’t fit anyone’s typical idea of a hero, came over the intercom system.

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