Meanings
plural tannoys
- CommonwealthIrelandUKcolloquialA public address system.
Although the supermarket tannoy was bravely broadcasting Rigoletto, its meat counter was thick with wurst and its wine shelves loaded with Liebfraumilch.
1987, Christina Hardyment, “Harlekins and Gondolas”, in Heidi’s Alp: One Family’s Search for Storybook Europe, Book Club edition, New York, N.Y.: The Atlantic Monthly Press, →OCLC, page 1631 more example
Terry Putnam, from Weymouth, adds: "Riding home from Bristol a few days ago, as we approached Weymouth the guard announced over the tannoy 'The next station is Weymouth - please remember to take all your luggage and children with you...'"
2020 August 12, “Stop & Examine”, in Rail, page 70
present singular third person tannoys · participle present tannoying · participle past tannoyed · past tannoyed
- CommonwealthIrelandUKambitransitiveTo transmit, or communicate with, by means of a public address system.
Synonyms & antonyms
Origin
A genericised trademark of Tannoy Ltd, a manufacturer of public address systems. "Tannoy" is a syllabic abbreviation of tantalum + alloy, which was the material used in a type of electrolytic rectifier developed by the company.
Full word history & related roots →Rhymes & wordplay
Anagrams
Cite this entry
tannoy. (n.d.). In WatkinsX Dictionary. Retrieved November 3, 2026, from https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tannoy
“tannoy.” WatkinsX Dictionary, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tannoy. Accessed November 3, 2026.
WatkinsX Dictionary, s.v. “tannoy,” accessed November 3, 2026, https://dictionary.watkinsx.com/word/tannoy.
Source: tannoy on Wiktionary, CC BY-SA 4.0.