wireless

[wahyuhr-lis]

adjective

1. having no wire.

2. noting or pertaining to any of various devices that are operated with or actuated by electromagnetic waves.

3. Chiefly British.,  radio.

noun

1. wireless telegraphy or telephony.

2. a wireless telegraph or telephone, or the like.

3. any system or device, as a cell phone, for transmitting messages or signals by electromagnetic waves.

4. a wireless message.

5. Chiefly British.,  radio.

verb (used with or without object)

1. to telegraph or telephone by wireless.

wireless

/ ˈwaɪəlɪs /

adjective

1. communicating without connecting wires or other material contacts

   wireless networks

   wireless internet connection

noun

1. old-fashioned,  another word for radio

Other Word Forms

• wirelessly adverb
• wirelessness noun
• prewireless adjective

Word History and Origins

Origin of wireless¹

First recorded in 1890–95; wire + -less

Example Sentences

Instead, the company suggested more narrow solutions that would make its contracts with wireless carriers and mobile device makers less restrictive.

From Los Angeles Times

Morgan, who funded Tesla’s wireless research before deciding the Mars obsession was a bit much and cutting him off.

From Los Angeles Times

"For the millions of families gathered around their wireless sets, and for their loved ones still serving far from home, it was the message a battle-weary world had long prayed for," the King said.

From BBC

The new device — the result of a collaboration between pediatricians and engineers — is a small wireless set of electrodes worn on the mother’s breast that measures the amount of milk expressed during a feeding.

From Los Angeles Times

A Washington Post review of wireless emergency data found that Kerr County did not issue its own first Amber Alert-style warning to phones until two days after the deadliest day of flooding.

From Los Angeles Times

Related Words

• Wi-Fi