Everyday Vocabulary The Telephone Test

An operator is a person at the telephone company who connects calls for you. Today we can call other countries ourselves, so we don't need an operator. A directory is a book of phone numbers, not a person.

To look up a number or word means to find it in a book or list: I looked up her number in the phone book. Not look through, which means to read quickly through many pages, not to find one piece of information.

A telephone directory is a book with a list of people's names, addresses and phone numbers. An agenda is a list of things to discuss at a meeting.

The receiver is the part of the telephone that you hold to your ear and speak into. We pick up the receiver to make a call and put it down to end the call.

To dial a number means to press the buttons (or turn the dial) on the phone to make a call: Pick up the receiver and dial the number. We don't search or operate a number.

A phone line is engaged (British English) when someone else is already using it, so you can't get through. The sentence says not engaged, so the call connects at once. Not free: not free would mean the line is busy, which doesn't fit straight away.

To get through means to manage to connect with someone on the phone: I tried to call you, but I couldn't get through. Get by means to manage with little money, and get in and get out are about entering and leaving.

A telephone line is the connection between two phones. A good line means you can hear clearly, and a bad line means there is noise. Not wire: we don't talk about a good wire for a clear call.