phone home

verb

To make a telephone call to one's home.

“The software phones home once a week to check for updates.”

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Meanings

verbphone home (third-person singular simple present phones home, present participle phoning home, simple past and past participle phoned home)

present singular third person phones home · participle present phoning home · participle past phoned home · past phoned home

  1. intransitiveliterallyTo make a telephone call to one's home.
  2. informalintransitiveTo contact a remote service for instructions, identification, etc.

    The software phones home once a week to check for updates.

Cite this entry
APA

phone home. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 2, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phone%20home

MLA

“phone home.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phone%20home. Accessed November 2, 2026.

Chicago

WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phone home,” accessed November 2, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phone%20home.

Source: phone home on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.