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headphone

 - 3 dictionary results

head⋅phone

[hed-fohn]
–noun Usually, headphones.
1. Audio. a headset designed for use with a stereo system.
2. any set of earphones.

Origin:
1910–15; head + -phone
Dictionary.com Unabridged
Based on the Random House Dictionary, © Random House, Inc. 2009.
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head·phone   (hěd'fōn')   
n.  A receiver, as for a telephone, radio, or stereo, held to the ear by a headband.
The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, Fourth Edition
Copyright © 2009 by Houghton Mifflin Company.
Published by Houghton Mifflin Company. All rights reserved.
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Encyclopedia

headphone

small loudspeaker (earphone) held over the ear by a band or wire worn on the head. Headphones are commonly employed in situations in which levels of surrounding noise are high, as in an airplane cockpit, or where a user such as a switchboard operator needs to keep the hands free, or where the listener is moving about or wants to listen without disturbing other people. A headphone may be equipped with one earphone or two and may include a miniature microphone, in which case it is called a headset. For listening to stereophonically reproduced sound, stereo headphones may be used, with separate channels of sound being fed to the two earphones.

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Encyclopedia Britannica, 2008. Encyclopedia Britannica Online.
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