Definitions

from The American Heritage® Dictionary of the English Language, 5th Edition.

  • noun A small speaker that is worn over or in the ear, often as one of a pair connected by a wire attached to a band running over the head

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License.

  • noun A listening device placed or worn in the ear, usually sold in pairs

from WordNet 3.0 Copyright 2006 by Princeton University. All rights reserved.

  • noun electro-acoustic transducer for converting electric signals into sounds; it is held over or inserted into the ear

Etymologies

from Wiktionary, Creative Commons Attribution/Share-Alike License

head +‎ phone

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Examples

  • Razer has moved to an open-back, ear-encompassing headphone, which is good for those of us who don't like stuff actually sitting on our ears, and I personally think it helps with sound placement as well.

    Original Signal - Transmitting Gadgets 2009

  • The Skype service is a bit different because you need special hardware to access it, namely a headphone + microphone combination.

    Ask Dave Taylor! 2009

  • They were here to promote some kind of headphone set, I think.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Omar El Akkad 2011

  • They were here to promote some kind of headphone set, I think.

    The Globe and Mail - Home RSS feed Omar El Akkad 2011

  • It comes with all the expected features such as headphone, microphone, Line In and Spdif, but also has 5.1 surround sound speakers to give a full range audio experience for portable gaming and music playback.

    APCmag.com - All Articles 2010

  • With a 10MHz, 10V / s, rail-to-rail I / O performance the device is ideal for audio applications such as headphone drivers and audio line receivers and buffers.

    unknown title 2009

  • As such they do qualify for PCEE as well as a huge majority of them do have a headphone output which therefore qualifies for Dolby headphone which is part of the PC experience.

    SeekingAlpha.com: Home Page 2008

  • As such they do qualify for PCEE as well as a huge majority of them do have a headphone output which therefore qualifies for Dolby headphone which is part of the PC experience.

    pfblogs.org: The Ad-Free Personal Finance Blogs Aggregator 2008

  • Further research is needed to determine if and how headphone use compromises pedestrian safety.

    Listen up: wearing headphones can endanger life, study finds 2012

  • With Regards to the Queen's iPod, I can just imagine future political cartoons: captionless scenes of political mayhem with the Queen regally watching ... with headphone cords dangling from her ears.

    Discourse.net: Why the Queen Can Enjoy Her New iPod 2009

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