answering machine

noun
an electronic device that is attached to a telephone and that automatically answers callers with a prerecorded message and records their messages for later playback.


Origin:
1975–80

Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2013.
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Collins
World English Dictionary
answering machine
 
n
In full: telephone answering machine, Also called: answerphone a device by means of which a telephone call is answered automatically and the caller enabled to leave a recorded message

Collins English Dictionary - Complete & Unabridged 10th Edition
2009 © William Collins Sons & Co. Ltd. 1979, 1986 © HarperCollins
Publishers 1998, 2000, 2003, 2005, 2006, 2007, 2009
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00:10
Answering machine is always a great word to know.
So is slumgullion. Does it mean:
an arrangement of five objects, as trees, in a square or rectangle, one at each corner and one in the middle.
a stew of meat, vegetables, potatoes, etc.
Example sentences
If the telephone line is already in use, you may leave your complaint
  information on the answering machine.
If a call is picked up by an answering machine, the system will leave a voice
  message.
Residents may leave a message on the answering machine if they call to report a
  bird after hours or on the weekend.
Monthly schedules are posted and updated, messages are left on the answering
  machine.
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