buzz in

verb

To open a remote-controlled door to allow (a person) to enter after sounding the doorbell or buzzer.

“I'm going to buy some more coffee. Could you buzz me in when I get back?”

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Meanings

verbbuzz in (third-person singular simple present buzzes in, present participle buzzing in, simple past and past participle buzzed in)

present singular third person buzzes in · participle present buzzing in · participle past buzzed in · past buzzed in

  1. informaltransitiveTo open a remote-controlled door to allow (a person) to enter after sounding the doorbell or buzzer.

    I'm going to buy some more coffee. Could you buzz me in when I get back?

  2. informalintransitiveOn a game show or similar competition, to press the buzzer to provide an answer.

    He disliked the new ruling that contestants could only buzz in after Trebek finished reading the clue.

    2015, David Baber, “Art Fleming”, in Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars, page 101
    1 more example

    It was the first contest to employ a "lock-out device": whichever contestant buzzed in first automatically shut the other out.

    1979, Maxene Fave, Television Game Show Hosts: Biographies of 32 Stars, page 124
Cite this entry
APA

buzz in. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buzz%20in

MLA

“buzz in.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buzz%20in. Accessed November 3, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “buzz in,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/buzz%20in.

Source: buzz in on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.