Meanings
- idiomaticuncountableA situation in which two individuals attempting to contact each other by telephone repeatedly do not get a live person and instead trade messages, such as by voice mail.
"Avoid phone tag, which results when two parties go back and forth trying to reach each other by phone."
2005, Dorothy A. Maxwell, Phone Skills for the Information Age2 more examples
"What frequently results is a game of phone tag. One party tries to reach another, is unable to, and leaves voice-mail indicating an interest in finding a time to meet. The other party returns the call, more often than not fails to reach the original caller, and leaves voice-mail in response."
2000, Sharon MacDonald, Gilbert Cockton, People and Computers XIV - Usability Or Else!: Proceedings of HCI 2000"To reduce the time you spend playing phone tag, ask what time the client will be in and call back then."
2006, Steven Fishman, Working for Yourself: Law & Taxes for Independent Contractors, Freelancers & ConsultantsSynonyms: telephone tag
Synonyms & antonyms
nounA situation in which two individuals attempting to contact each other by telephone repeatedly do not get a live person and instead trade messages, such as by voice mail.
Origin
Cite this entry
phone tag. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 4, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phone%20tag
“phone tag.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phone%20tag. Accessed November 4, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “phone tag,” accessed November 4, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/phone%20tag.
Source: phone tag on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.