Meanings
- The telephone number for emergency services in Australia.First known use 1961
When you call 000, the Telstra operator usually answers the phone with "Emergency. Police, fire, or ambulance?"
Synonyms: Triple O, Triple Zero, 000 Emergency
Synonyms & antonyms
proper nounThe telephone number for emergency services in Australia.
Origin
A variant of the British 999, originally selected as an appropriate number for rotary-dial telephones and adapted in Australia because of the need to dial an initial 0 from remote exchanges to connect to the main trunk lines.
Full word history & related roots →Cite this entry
000. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/000
“000.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/000. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “000,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/000.
Source: 000 on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.