# ringtone

Pronunciation: say "RING-tohn" US /ˈɹɪŋˌtoʊn/, UK /ˈɹɪŋˌtəʊn/

## Noun

1. A sound that a phone, especially a mobile phone, plays when someone calls and that its user can select or change.
   - Simple: A sound or song that you choose for your phone to play when someone calls.
   - _He assigned a different ringtone to each of his contacts so he knows who is calling without looking._
   - _In the early 2000s, people paid real money for short polyphonic ringtones of popular songs._
2. The sound a telephone makes while it is ringing.
   - Simple: The sound a phone makes when someone is calling.
   - _A faint ringtone drifted up from somewhere inside the couch cushions._
   - _The room filled with competing ringtones as everyone's phone rang at once._

## Verb

3. Of a telephone: to play its ringtone when a call comes in.
   - Simple: To play the sound that shows a call is coming in.
   - _Phones that ringtone in the quiet car draw glares from the other passengers._
   - _His phone ringtoned twice before he managed to dig it out of his bag._

## Origin

Formed from the words 'ring' and 'tone'.

Source: DictionaryAI, https://dictionaryai.com/define/ringtone (written from Wiktionary data, CC BY-SA 4.0: https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/).