freephone

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English

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Etymology

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From free +‎ phone, perhaps after the Freefone (0800 number) service introduced in 1985 in the UK.

Noun

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freephone (uncountable)

  1. (chiefly UK, Ireland) A service offering telephone calls free of charge to designated numbers.
    • 1997, Peter Murley, Gower handbook of customer service:
      If they are not marketed properly they can easily be viewed as a poor man's freephone. Therefore, if such a service is to succeed, it needs to be promoted...
    • 2000, Owen Hargie, Dennis Tourish, Handbook of communication audits for organisations:
      One reason for the increase in public contact with companies has been the introduction of freephone, or toll-free, services.
    • 2001, Dave Patten, Successful marketing for the small business:
      Adding a freephone telephone number does increase response...

Synonyms

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Verb

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freephone (third-person singular simple present freephones, present participle freephoning, simple past and past participle freephoned)

  1. (rare) To call a freephone number.